The Chaos Chronicles: Book 2: Reaching Through Time
by Giver of Doom
Summary: Four years have passed since Annie Eyre's sojourn in the Warriors world. But on a trip to her cousin's house, the Clans decide that they need Annie and her friends again and grab her from her world and through time to save them once more. And more than one surprise is ready for her when she returns, not to the lake this time, but to the old forest! {sequel to CHAOS IN THE CLANS}
1. Chapter 1

**[Welcome to the sequel CHAOS IN THE CLANS! If you don't know what that is, stop now! Go to my profile, scroll to the bottom, and click on "The Chaos Chronicles: Book 1: Chaos in the Clans". Read CITC, then come back. ;D**

**I had fun writing CITC. In my personal opinion, I think that this sequel is better written, mostly because I'm getting better at writing. XD Thank you for sticking through! Here we go: into the world of REACHING THROUGH TIME!]**

* * *

**THE CHAOS CHRONICLES**

* * *

**REACHING THROUGH TIME**

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE**

* * *

A muscular white-furred tom lay on a rock, basking in the sunshine. "This is the life—or, should I say, death?" he murmured to himself.

"Yes, Whitestorm, you should," a golden-pelted tom said as he walked into the clearing.

"Ah, Lionheart, to what do I owe the pleasure?" the tom called Whitestorm asked.

Lionheart smiled faintly.

"Not bad news, I hope? Things have been peaceful ever since the Dark Forest War."

"Well, it's news that would make Bluestar unhappy," Lionheart said wryly.

"Come on, Lionheart, tell me!"

"I was looking into the Gazing Pool, and I saw five Twolegs: two females and three males. One of them was the Annie girl."

"And what were they doing?" Whitestorm asked eagerly.

"You know those cat's I've been trying find?"

"Yes! Are you saying—"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

There was a pause. Then Whitestorm broke the silence.

"So how are you going to get them together?"

"Two of pairs of them are already together, but they're all heading toward the same place," Lionheart said.

"Where?"

"You're not going to believe this, but in the parallel version of—"

"Of where?"

Lionheart glared at Whitestorm. "I was getting there! They're heading toward the parallel version of Barley's farm!"

* * *

My dad's brother, Uncle Tom, had always been a little on the odd side.

My first clue was when I found out he changed his last name from Eyre to Windover, instead of having Aunt Carrie change hers. My second hint: When he insisted on spelling his oldest son's name as M-A-C-K-S rather than it be M-A-X. Poor kid.

He lives on a farm that has belonged to the Windover family so long that the moor had been named after them. His only daughter is a girl named Josie. She was a lot like me, but a little more patient with little kids. (The human kind, not baby goats, though I suppose she's patient with those too.)

Five years had passed since the 'class-turning-into-cats-and-saving-the-warrior-Cl ans' incident. Surprisingly, all that was printed in the books**[1]**. One of the authors had gotten cancer**[2]**, so the fifth series had been postponed for a few years while she recovered. They were planning on releasing the first book in October, which was in four months from where this story starts: the middle of July.

"Deck the halls with boughs of holly! Fa la la la la, la la la la!" my three sisters roared behind where I was sitting in our minivan.

"SHUT UP!" I roared back. "Christmas isn't for six months!"

Hailey, the oldest besides me (she was 14, I was 16 at this point) stuck her tongue out at me. She hadn't changed one bit since she was 9. Still the same goofy, clueless, super-annoying Hailey.

Kelsie, like the girly-girl she was (yecch!), just sighed and put in her earphones, and pulled out her phone to text her buddies. She was the only kid in the family who had a phone, because she was the only one who needed it. And she was only 10! Well, I had a phone too, but I hardly ever used it—just to call Josie or Ryan or Sam or Kyle or someone. (Josie = cousin; Ryan = tell you later; Sam = also known as Wolfstar, friend of mine; Kyle = also known as Mothface, another friend of mine.)

Mikaylie, 8, burst into tears. The youngest in the family, she had always been the sweetest, most pampered, and most delicate. I felt a small twinge of guilt; getting yelled at by your least favorite sister probably wasn't nice. Meh. Mikaylie had never liked me, she probably would have cried if I gave her a cookie, screaming that it was poisoned.

"Annie! I expect better of you. You're sixteen, for crying out loud!" my father scolded.

"Yes, dear. Apologize to your sisters!" my mother, directed.

"Sor-_ry_," I muttered. Hailey rolled her eyes, Kelsie ignored me, and Mikaylie wailed even more, but I thought I saw a tiny, satisfied smirk on her face.

"We're here!" Dad announced as we pulled up into the driveway of my cousin's house. "Welcome to Windover Farm!"

* * *

**[1] Of course, this didn't happen. Too bad for me. CITC was fun for write, a sequel will be more fun, and let's just pretend that in her world, Annie's right, but in our's, she's wrong. And please keep in mind that I haven't actually read Dawn of the Clans. Believe it or not, I actually came up with this idea before DOTC was even announced. ;D**

**[2] I would never wish something like this on the Erins, but it seemed the only reasonable explanation why the fifth series hadn't been published.**


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

* * *

As we got out of the car, our cousins ran toward us.

First came Roger. He was always cracking odd jokes. His favorite was one about three guys in a plane. The first two guys drop fruit out the window as they pass over their countries, saying that they love their countries. The third guy drops a bomb out the window and says that he hates his country.

When the first two guys get home, they find kids crying about fruit that fell on their heads out of nowhere and feel guilty. When the third guy gets home, he finds a man laughing his head off in front of an exploded building. When the guy asks what's so funny, the laughing man replies, "I farted and the building behind me blew up!"

Behind Roger came his only younger brother, Tim. Tim was never sad, always smiling and having something good to say. It was actually kind of annoying sometimes.

Then came Macks, spoken about earlier. He was older than both of his brothers, and blonde hair was brighter than theirs as well.

Last came Josie, my only cousin with brown hair. She had given up trying to tie it back, and, as it was very thick, doing just that was next to impossible. She was clutching the latest _Warriors _book, a super edition called _Tallstar's Revenge._

"Annie! Let's go up to my room to wait for Ryan," she called, smiling.

Oh yeah ... If you're wondering, Ryan's my ... um ... boyfriend.

* * *

Don't get mad! I'm not cheating on Lionbla ... Well, I guess I am. But he hadn't showed up, and I did have to move on eventually. I don't see how he couldn't be in StarClan—he had died in the epilogue _The Last Hope_—but he wasn't there when I visited each night. Whenever I asked some ancestor, the cat I was talking to just awkwardly changed the subject.

I followed Josie across the yard, into her house, up the stairs, into her room, and flopped down on her bed. The walls were plastered with _Warriors_ posters and pictures, and the bookshelves were filled with books. Josie owned every single _Warriors_ book ever printed, and she was the only human who I had told the truth about Gingerstar to—because I knew she was the only one who would believe me.

"Hey, Annie! Look, Ryan's here!"

Josie's shout broke me out of my memories, and I looked out the window to where she was pointing.

And there he was!

Ryan was running up the lawn, his blonde hair catching the sunlight and making it seem more golden than blonde ... the same golden color as Lionblaze's fur. Sadness welled up inside me, but I quickly pushed it away. Ryan's large and powerfully built body was running fast, and his face was screwed up in a disgusted expression, his hazel eyes lifted to the heavens. I looked behind him and saw why.

Ryan's foster-bother, Jeff, was running up behind him. Jeff's mouth was moving, but I couldn't make out what he was saying from this far away. Something about fish, maybe? Ryan was adopted, as was Jeff, and my boyfriend occasionally hinted that he had a tragic past, but he never elaborated, and I didn't press him. He was perfectly happy with his new life. The only downside was a slightly overprotective mom, and his brother Jeff.

Jeff was short. He was annoying. He looked almost exactly like Ryan (except for his skinny body and blue eyes), which was creepy, because technically, they weren't related. Jeff was probably really nervous and/or scared for some unknown reason, but he acted really annoying to hide it.

Jeff was all honey around his Mom, but he was mean and annoying to anyone and everyone else, especially when you bugged him. He had horrible eyesight, but his Mom fixed that by giving him contacts. So now he could see fine. He wanted to be a doctor, but you would have to be psycho to let him. Jeff and sharp objects just don't go together.

Oh, and he was also best friends with Macks, which was the reason Ryan and Jeff's mom let them spend the night here occasionally. It wasn't to get me and Ryan together, as his mom disapproves of our dating.

"The monster's here, too," I groaned. Josie closed her eyes and muttered a prayer to StarClan: _"Please, StarClan. Make him vanish from our world forever! Please!"_

Little did she know just how much her wish would come true ...


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

* * *

Ryan came pounding up the stairs and burst into Josie's room. I leapt up to greet him.

"Hey Ryan!" Josie said. "Why'd you bring the monster?"

Ryan made a face. "Wasn't my idea. Mom made me."

I smiled. "It's all right."

Suddenly, Josie slapped her forehead. "Oh! I almost forgot!" She leapt up and rummaged through her desk.

"Yes!" she crowed triumphantly, brandishing an old, crinkled piece of paper. She walked back over to us, smoothing the paper out as she went.

"What's that, Josie?" I inquired, rubbing the palm of my right hand. It was tingling, a very bad sign. See, ever since I had turned back into a human, StarClan's mark has been pressed into my skin. Fortunately, only people who had turned into cats could see it; people who led normal lives thought my hand was just like any other. When it tingled, that either meant something important was happening in the _Warriors_ universe or else I was about to pass out so my dream self could go have a little chat with StarClan. I fervently hoped it was not the latter right now.

"A map of the quarry!" Josie exclaimed to answer my question.

I frowned. "So?"

"I found a cave that wasn't marked on here. I went inside, and there was a huge glowing rock! Well, not glowing, exactly, but it was really cool. I thought you'd like to see."

My face lit up. "That's awesome! Take me to it!" I glanced at Ryan. "You coming?"

Ryan winked at me. "Of course!"

And so we headed out.

* * *

The quarry was old, and no one used it. Except for Josie, that is, and she only to get away from farm life. She knew the place like the back of her hand, and in no time at all, we were there.

"Come on in!" Josie called from the cave entrance.

Exchanging a glance with Ryan, I tentatively followed her, trying to avoid falling on the rocks.

The cave wasn't anything special—until you saw the smooth, glittering stone it housed. The rock let out a faint glow, and I imagined it would look even more spectacular in moonlight. That's when it hit me.

"It's the Moonstone!" I yelled.

Josie looked startled. "... What?" Then it dawned on her. "It is!"

"What's the Moonstone?" said a voice behind us.

We turned to see ... Jeff and Macks.

"You followed us!" Ryan said angrily.

"So?" Jeff shot back. "Whatchya gonna do about it?"

"Well, are you going to tell us? What's the Moonstone?" Macks repeated.

"A magic rock," I said, sarcastically but truthfully.

Jeff rolled his eyes, but the boy looked uncertain, even worried.

Then, all of a sudden, Macks reached out and pushed Josie, saying, "Stop messing with me!" She staggered and fell—right onto the Moonstone! I gasped, expecting Josie to be bruised, maybe with a few broken bones, but instead of hurting her, the rock absorbed her! With a rippling sound, Josie disappeared.

Macks leaped in after her, horrified. When he vanished, Jeff screamed and rushed into it. He must have been more loyal to Macks than I had thought. I was frozen in shock, and with a sinking feeling I remembered how this had happened just when Lionblaze and Lichenblossom (my apprentice) had needed me back when I was still a cat. _When I was __**still a CAT**__ ... _With a horrible flash of realization I thought, _Not them too!_

Ryan, the loyal brother, jumped in after Jeff. Since I had nothing else to do, Josie and Ryan were in there, and I had a horrible feeling I knew what had happened to them, I ran into the rock and got sucked in as well.

I felt a familiar tingling sensation, and inwardly sighed. I had been afraid of this.

I heard a faint poof, and the dreaded sparkling orange mist clouded mist clouded my vision.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

* * *

Bluestar stood, claws out, in front of a shamefaced Lionheart and a crouching, apologetic Whitestorm.

"We didn't want this happening!" she spat. "That girl has had enough grief!"

"But—"

"No buts!" the blue-furred she-cat hissed.

Whitestorm rose from his crouch. "We _had_ to do this, Bluestar. Surely you understand?"

Bluestar shot him a venomous look. "All I understand is that you led them to the Moonstone, knowing what would happen, _without asking StarClan's permission!_"

The muscular white tom bowed his head. "True enough. But you see ..." His voice trailed off.

Lionheart flicked his tail. "What he's trying to say is: _they are the five! _We had no choice; they needed to get there."

Bluestar froze, taking this new information in. Then she sighed. "Very well. But you still should have told somecat!" Suddenly, she stiffened.

Lionheart blinked. "Bluestar?"

Whitestorm nudged him. "Shh! She's going say a new prophecy!"

Bluestar's eyes glowed faintly._"For if the twice-felines fail, the Clans will be lost before they are made."_

Lionheart looked at his companion quizzically. "That's not a new prophecy. That's been puzzled over since the dawn of time. No one could make heads or tails of it."

Whitestorm sucked in a breath. "And this means that it's about to come true."

Lionheart closed his eyes. Suddenly he seemed like a tired old tomcat again. "Yes ... but before us. _Way _before us. We really shouldn't have sent them back in time. Anything could happen now."

So they padded away, back into StarClan's forest, pondering over Bluestar's ominous words ...

... And far back in time, the twice-felines woke.

* * *

Having your molecules pulled apart and rearranged into a different body isn't actually all that painful.

I felt a tingling sensation all over my body, and my vision blurred. When my eyesight cleared, I was standing in exactly the same place I had been sitting—except I was a cat.

I looked down at my paws, expecting them to be short-furred and ginger, like last time, but to my surprise, they were long-furred and black! What in the name of StarClan?!

I looked up. Sitting around me were four cats, all of them looking surprised. One was slim and lithe. Her eyes were a deep amber, and right now they were panicked. Her fur was short and a lovely shade of chocolate-brown.

Next to her was a long-furred—no, make that _very_ long-furred—silver-gray tom. His green eyes were sharp and intelligent.

Sitting frozen in shock was a smallish gray-and-white tom with startlingly blue eyes. He looked traumatized, yet strangely delighted.

Directly across from me was a huge, well-muscled deep orange tom. His amber eyes were achingly familiar, but I couldn't figure out why. His paws were as white as snow.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Hi?"

The brown she-cat exhaled in relief. "Annie!"

"Josie!"

"I ... cannot ... believe this! I am actually a cat!"

"Alright ..." I said. I turned to the toms. "Which one of you is Ryan?"

The orange tom said "Me" in a voice that was unmistakably Ryan's—even if it was a little deeper. Then it struck me, and I couldn't believe I had been this stupid. To this day, I cannot believe I had been so utterly idiotic. I mean, the signs were right in front of my face. He hadn't tried to hide much, after all.

Ryan was Lionblaze.

* * *

My eyes widened. I lifted a shaking paw. "You ... are ... so ... dead."

He stared at me in confusion.

"All this time? All this time you never bothered to tell me? Well, _Lionblaze_, you are DEAD!"

He blinked at me incredulously. _"Gingerstar?"_

I rolled my eyes. "Of course, dummy!"

"Well then," said a sarcastic voice, "I guess I'll add to the little party, won't I?"

Lionblaze and I nearly jumped out of our furs. That was _Jayfeather's_ voice.

"Oh, don't look so surprised," Jayfeather (the gray-and-white tom) said. "It turns out my foster brother is my real brother." Jeff. Jayfeather was Jeff. Epic facepalm—or face_paw_—to me.

"Would somebody _please_ tell me what's going on?" the silver tom pleaded. Of course. Macks.

I smiled thinly. "You've read the _Warriors_ series, right?"

"Yeah. It wasn't that great, but yeah..."

"Well, it's real. Only in, like, a different dimension or something. A parallel universe. And now we've turned into cats and are in it."

He closed his eyes. "Ohhh ... kay."

"See, the Gingerstar in _Warriors_ is me," I said. "End of story."

Josie snorted. I glared at her.

"Turns out, when I got turned back into a human, so did Lionblaze. I just didn't know it." I shot a venomous look at my mate. "Ryan is Lionblaze. By some odd twist of fate, Jayfeather got turned human too, and he's Jeff."

Before Macks could take all that in, Josie brought up an excellent question: "Where are we?"


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

* * *

"The old forest for sure," Lionblaze said with certainty. "Why else would we be in Mothermouth?"

I nodded to him. "Good point. So, we assume we're in Mothermouth. But _when_ are we?"

Macks looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what time period are we in? Are we at the beginning of the first series, or before the Clans were formed? Or are we in the old forest after the Clans left? Or somewhere in-between?"

Jayfeather nodded his head. "She's right. We have no idea."

"Should we do this like you did last time?" Josie asked.

I closed my eyes. "Last time ..." I muttered under my breath. "Sure, I'm glad Ryan and me know what happened, but I really didn't want this ..." I raised my tone so the rest could hear. "In case they recognize your names as warrior names, Jayfeather and Lionblaze, you guys should just call yourselves Jeff and Ryan."

Jeff and Ryan nodded. "Makes sense to me," Jeff muttered. "Even though I like the name Jayfeather a lot better."

Miss I'm-All-Questions asked another one. "Annie, you were ginger before, when you were in _The Forgotten Warrior_ and _The Last Hope_. Now you're black-furred. What's up with that?"

I shrugged. "You tell me. Jeff and Ryan's pelts have changed, too."

"Gosh, let's just get going already!" Macks said with exasperation. "It's nearly noon!"

We looked up through the hole in the ceiling. Macks was right. We had to go if we wanted to travel in daylight.

So we left to explore the regions beyond.

Ryan and I padded next to each other, catching up on what had happened to us while we had been separated.

He had been fighting a badger when the badger had turned into Bluestar. Bluestar explained that I had just turned back into a human, and that now his wish would be fulfilled and he would, too. Before he could process that, he was a human in my world.

He had wandered the woods for a few days before some hikers had found him and given him to the social workers. They had placed him in a foster home with another boy named Jeff. Eventually, their foster mother and father had grown to like them so much they had been adopted even though Jeff and Ryan didn't get along.

"Then I met you, and I felt like I was getting my life back. You reminded me _so much_ of Gingerstar, I couldn't keep away." Ryan smiled at me, and I felt warm inside. "You introduced me to the _Warriors_ world. You showed me how so many people flamed and bashed me ... and how so many loved me. Some of those fan-pairings really creeped me out. I mean, I was creeped out, but at the same time, loving it. It was just ... amazing. As are you."

If cats can blush, I probably did.

Jeff snorted, his tail flicking. "Lovebirds."

I rolled my eyes and cooed, "Oh yeah, Jay's Wing. How's Half Moon doing?" I snorted. "Calling _us_ lovebirds, great StarClan!"

Jeff looked down. "I didn't get to see her. I just vanished that one day, and woke up as a human."

Josie looked up from talking to Macks. "Oh, that's horrible! JayXHalf was my favorite pairing!"

Jayfeather looked at her warily. Josie blushed.

And that's when I saw the cats.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

* * *

There were six of them. The one in the lead was huge, bigger than Ryan. He was a brown tom with broad shoulders and formidable-looking claws. I doubted even my mate could beat him alone.

Prowling behind him was a pale gray she-cat. Cruel intelligence glittering in harsh blue eyes, she whispered to the tom behind her, who growled. He was a heavily scarred gray-brown tom with a major dental hygiene problem and eyes the color of green baby puke.

A dark gray tom behind them flashed a nervous look at the black she-cat pressed against him. She looked back at the burly tabby she-cat padding behind them. None of them looked in good condition; in fact, they looked half starved.

Lastly came a light brown tabby tom. He was constantly being distracted by a butterfly here and a pretty flower there. He was only a little older than apprentice age, maybe thirteen moons. With a pang, I remembered Lichenblossom, my deceased apprentice. She would have liked this friendly-looking, dreamy, tom.

"I rule here," the cat in from growled. "Why are you trespassing on the land of the almighty Sparrow?"

Josie pushed through us, taking the lead. Ryan and Jeff, used to taking orders from me, glanced back at me. I nodded confidentially, showing my approval of this sudden change of plan, though my new fluffy black fur prickled with unease. Josie was a natural leader, yes, but it took a lot to coax it out of her. She must think that this cat was worth her attention.

"What makes you so sure that it's _your_ land?" Josie retorted. I widened my eyes. _Wow. She's really bitten off more than she can chew._

But Josie seemed calm as Sparrow loomed over her.

"It's my land because I control the cats around here, and no one is strong enough to beat me in a fight. This is where I staked my claim, and this is where I rule," he growled. "Now don't mess with me."

"Why not? Scared you'll get your pathetic little butt whipped?"

I laughed. I actually laughed. And it wasn't until then that I realized that my old enemy, my freezing-in-place-when-I-really-need-to-move weakness, had returned. I was scared stiff that Josie couldn't handle this. She'd only been a cat for a few hours, I'd been one for years!

_But she needs to prove herself,_ my reasonable head-voice argued. _You won't be there for her forever, and besides, she's older than you. You're sixteen, she's seventeen!_

Sparrow bristled. "Path, Claw," he hissed to the gray she-cat and the well-fed gray-brown tom, "kill her."

Path, the she-cat, darted around to Josie's back, but Josie was one step ahead of her. Using a speed I hadn't known she had, she darted around Path's attack and flipped her over on her back, knocking Path out cold. She then proceeded to do the same thing to Claw, neatly sidestepping his clumsy attack.

Sparrow, however, was not deterred. And now he was aware that Josie was a dangerous enemy. "Storm, Midnight, Thorn, even you, Gorse, my dear _brother—_this is your chance to prove your loyalty!"

The gray tom, Storm, moved forward warily. Josie smiled reassuringly and said, "You don't have to fight me, none of you. I can see that you hate Sparrow. Fight _him_ instead."

I could see doubt in their eyes. I gathered that they were frightened of what Sparrow would do to them if they fought him and lost. I bit my lip, hoping Josie could pull it off.

Midnight, the black she-cat, padded over to Josie. "I trust you," she said in a quiet voice. Storm, her mate apparently, moved over to her side, followed by an enthusiastic Gorse, the young tom, who was apparently Sparrow's brother. Thorn, the burly she-cat, came over last, grinning.

"Let's whip some butt," she smiled.

They attacked an astonished Sparrow and killed him swiftly. He didn't stand a chance, not with all those cats. The rest of us didn't even have to join in.

Gorse looked at Josie in awe. "You're amazing!" he exclaimed. "We're finally free of Sparrow. Even if he was my brother, he was really mean. He treated his Loyals _way_ better than us, the Fear-followers. You _have_ to stay with our gang! You could even lead us!"

Thorn grinned. "I'd fight you for it," she said carelessly. "But you'd win. So I guess I wouldn't."

Midnight gave a long, loud yawn. "I'm getting old. It's nice to see Sparrow go—he killed all the old folk."

Storm smiled, his eyes tired. "Thank you, um ... ?"

Josie looked uncomfortable. "Josie," she said, blushing. "And it was nothing."

Gorse gave her the big-pleading-blue-eyes trick. "_Please,_ can you stay? _Please?"_

"Um ... I'd love to go, but ... my companions," she said apologetically.

I smiled at her sadly. "I'm sorry, Josie. I'm happy for you, but the moor ... no. I need forest."

Ryan winked at her. "So do I. It's been nice meeting you."

Jeff sighed, and nodded to Ryan. "I'm with him."

Macks looked torn. "Josie ... you're my sister. I don't want to leave you. But I can't stay here." He shivered. "It's too open for me. Too exposed. And too dry. I like _water._"

Gorse broke in. "Josie isn't much of a name for a moor cat. What about Wind?"

Josie nodded assent. Then she straightened. I smiled. She would make a good leader for these half-broken cats.

Then she stared at me, a strange look in her eyes. "Before ..." she whispered.

I frowned. Then it struck me. _Before._ We were before the Clans. And Josie was ...

Wind, glancing behind her sorrowfully but excitedly, faded into the moors. My cousin was gone.


	7. Chapter 7

**So, I decided that I'm going to start consistently updating every Monday. Let's see how long this lasts...**

**Also, I apologize for the weird wording in this chapter... When I wrote this, I had been reading a lot of Tamora Pierce and I needed to get the fancy talking out of my system. XD**

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

* * *

After a long pause, I broke the silence. "Well, that was entertaining."

Ryan laughed dryly. "More like surprising. Do you know what this means? I would hazard a guess that we have been sent back in time to before the Clans were formed, and now must help them be created."

I nodded grimly. "Yep. I think we can safely say that Josie is Wind, founder of WindClan. And we are most likely Shadow, Thunder, River, and Sky. No telling which of you is which, but I'm probably Shadow, since she's the only girl left."

Jeff rolled his eyes. "You're a cat again, my dear Gingerstar. The proper term is she-cat."

Macks spoke up. "What are we going to do now?"

I shrugged. "What can we do? Pass on, I guess. I've always wanted to see Fourtrees."

After a long trek through the moors, happily unchallenged, we did indeed reach Fourtrees. The oaks were young, but still tall, towering far over the tops of some birch saplings that dared root in the edges of the clearing. I felt tiny next to the Great Rock, ever unchangeable until the Twolegs came. I sympathized with those who had known the Old Forest as kits: it was truly a wonderful place, prey-rich and full of splendor in its wild places.

We passed through Fourtrees, stopping only to hunt a little. All of us were clumsy: Ryan and I because we were out of practice, Macks because he had never been a cat before, and Jeff because he was formerly blind and a medicine cat. Nonetheless, we managed to catch a few mice and a vole for lucky Ryan.

Soon we approached the river: great, majestic, and flowing dangerously fast. Macks's eyes brightened when we heard it. I smiled faintly and kicked myself for not realizing that of course Macks had to be River. Macks loved all sports, but swimming especially.

"Halt!" said a commanding voice from behind us.

We turned, and cats swarmed out of the trees on the bank. We were vastly outnumbered and these cats were well fed, nothing like the broken "fear-followers," as Gorse had called them, of Sparrow's gang.

"I am Domino Wellspoke, Loyal of Master Trout. Why do you trespass on our lands?" the tom who had called us to halt said in an imperial voice. My pelt itched to wipe the smug grin off his black-and-white face, but instead I dipped my head. In our current circumstance, force was not the best option.

"I am Shadow," I said. "My friend Wind has conquered the land of Sparrow, and we are traveling to find a new home. This is Thunder and Sky," I said, motioning to Ryan and Jeff but not saying who was who for I was not sure of that myself yet, "and River."

Jeff raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Domino pursed his lips. "Perhaps," he said tentatively, "an agreement with Master Trout could be reached. If you would follow me, Lady Shadow?"

I stepped forward, trying as much as possible to radiate power and authority as I padded next to Domino.

"My Master is wise, but growing old," he murmured to me. "I care for his health, but I am not the sort who knows about herblore. He has trouble breathing. Could one of your company heal him? I will give you advice and counsel as payment."

I pondered his offer for a moment. "I do not trust you for one moment, Domino. But I have pity for old cats and the young. Coltsfoot will help him breathe, but of this herb I will speak no more."

Domino dipped his head. "Thank you, Shadow Herb-learner." I internally rolled my eyes at the extra name he had assigned me. "My counsel is this: If there is one among you skilled with the ways of the river, leave him here. He will learn and prosper under our mentors of young. I will cause a diversion, and the rest of your company may leave in peace. The guard of Trout trusts none but him these days, and I fear you will be killed if you stay. But the forest is no place for a water cat, nor the moors. If Sparrow Strongclaws is dead as you say, then I rejoice: he took our cats and we saw them no more. I fear for them."

I dipped my head in thanks. "I heed your counsel. River shall stay with you. If I could break the news?"

Macks was not altogether dismayed, but sad to see us go when Domino led us deliberately to a fox's nest. We slipped away unnoticed by Trout's warriors, and I still wonder whether leaving Macks—or River, now—was the right choice.

"How did you impress him?" Ryan asked as we walked in the forest.

"Just did some fancy-shmancy talk and told him the uses of coltsfoot—though I do miss Macks."

Jeff was surprised. "It was that easy?"

I laughed. "He's a fool, but a kind fool at least."

And so we walked into the forest, but the trees grew widely spaced as our company slowly separated ...


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for the delay. I really was going to keep up with the one-update-every-Monday thing, but I got grounded and this was my first chance to get on and post this chapter. :/**

* * *

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

"If I guess right, we're heading toward SkyClan territory," I said aloud. "The trees are growing farther apart than they would if we were in ThunderClan territory, and the birds are _really_ loud."

Jeff and Ryan laughed at that. Jeff smiled. "I like this place, even if the birds are loud."

Ryan and I exchanged a glance. We both knew what that might mean.

Jeff, walking in front of us, sighed. "All right, I'm Sky! I'll admit it!"

This time I laughed. "I bet you never thought you would be Sky when you were Jayfeather."

"Just as I never knew there was a SkyClan until I became human. And I never thought that would happen either."

Then I smelled cat.

Jeff and Ryan smelled it too. Their ears went up and their muzzles too. There was a large group of cats near by. The smell was unfamiliar—it wasn't even tinged with WindClan scent like the moor cats' had been, and RiverClan for Domino and his friends—but it was Clannish, if you know what I mean.

It must be SkyClan's ancestors.

We walked boldly into what was obviously a camp. It was a shallow dip in the ground, with dens built on every side. Inside a hollow log, a white she-cat dozed.

The cats looked up. There weren't as many as Gorse had said Sparrow had led, just a little more than the force Trout had lent Domino.

The white she-cat lifted her head. She sprang to her feet at the sight of us.

"Guards!" she rasped.

Two burly toms crawled out from the shade of the log. One was black, the other gray. Both had the same amber eyes—brothers, I guessed.

"Yes, Your Royal Majesty Queen Glimmer?" the black tom mewed. His voice was deep and coarse.

Her eyes were dull. "I told you to stop calling me that—the commoners have deserted and the nobles doubt my strength. I didn't ask for my father the King to be murdered, but he was, and now I'm ruler—but not Queen." She lowered her voice and murmured, "Never Queen ..." Glimmer shook her head. "I must address these ... New folk."

I sighed. There were so many customs in the strange pre-Clan world! Sparrow ruled by tyranny; Trout, it seemed, by the 'goodness of his heart' (which for all I know could be and probably was fake); and now Glimmer by monarchy. I wondered what ShadowClan and ThunderClan would hold in store. I hoped at least one held the traditional system I was used to. Though I guess in this time period, it was not traditional.

Jeff padded forward. "My name is Sky. I would like to speak with the leader of this rag-tag group of cats."

Glimmer drew herself up. "Rag-tag?" she hissed. _"Rag-tag?_ Do you know how hard it is to keep these cats together? I've already had more than half my cats desert when my father died!"

Jeff raised his eyebrows. "So you're the leader?" he asked, unimpressed. "Really. Even for this tragic letdown, I hoped for something stronger. Something I could beat in a fair fight. Not a wimp like you."

Glimmer was infuriated. _"I am the daughter of a King. _In my current state, I am not a Queen, but you should treat me with more respect."

Jeff shrugged. "You're not my ruler. I'm my own King." He curled his lip. "I don't think a weakling like you could rule these cats if you tried."

The white she-cat was nearly glowing with rage. I held in a laugh and played the indifferent background character. Jeff was playing with Glimmer. He had done this many times with a teacher, parent, or some other person who was empowered but he didn't like. It was _very_ funny.

Glimmer fluffed up her fur to look dominant. Jeff looked almost bored now. "Yes, yes—now, I have a request for you."

Glimmer snarled, but Jeff continued. "I think that I could take care of these kittens far better than you could. Hand them over to me."

"Never!" Glimmer spat.

Jeff sighed. "As you wish," he said, eyes sparking with amusement. "Give me half of them, and I bet you the leadership of these kittens that I can make them into warriors far faster than you can. You take half, and train them your way. At the end of the moon, we will compare halves. The leader of the better half will rule them all. Is this a deal?"

Glimmer paused, her fur slowly flattening. I could tell she was mulling over this offer, thinking of her chances. With Jeff's sharp wit and sharper tongue, I knew that he would win. Glimmer, however, thought she could beat him because she was "nobly born"—as if that mattered. She straightened and smirked.

"I accept your offer with pride, _Sir_ Sky. We will see who wins." And she stalked away.

Jeff padded up to us. "I've got this under control," he murmured softly. "She barely noticed you. Go away and liberate Thunder- and ShadowClan. I'm fine." He nodded to me and touched Ryan's shoulder with his tail briefly. "Bye." He turned and padded after Glimmer to choose his half of the cats.

I sighed, then chuckled as we turned away. "That Glimmer is mistaken if she thinks she can win!"


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

* * *

Ryan and I were the only ones left out of the five who had started our journey. We headed back inland, toward ThunderClan territory—or what would soon be ThunderClan territory. As we neared a clearing in the trees, I smelled cat. Not quite the ThunderClan smell, but close enough.

There were no guards and no patrols at all. The cats in the clearing were completely surprised when we walked up to them.

In the center of the clearing, a young tabby tom sat gorging himself on birds, squirrels, and other woodland prey. He gaped at us, plainly wondering why we were here.

Ryan stretched and yawned. Then he shook his head vigorously to clear it. I smiled and did the same.

The young tom got to his feet. "Who are you?" he said in an annoyingly high-pitched voice. "Where do you come from?"

Ryan lifted an eyebrow. "I could ask the same from you."

The tom lifted his nose in the air. "I am Chirp Lionsbreath Swiftclaws the Third, son of my late father Chirp Lionsbreath Swiftclaws the Second, grandson of Chirp Lionsbreath Swiftclaws the First, leader of the Chirp Lionsbreath Swiftclaws Tribe, and founder of the Chirp Lionsbreath Swiftclaws Association, of which I am holding a meeting right now. What are you doing here?"

Ryan shrugged. "Watching you embarrass yourself."

A ripple of laughter spread through the watching cats. I saw a frightening sight—fat, lazy toms, and _no she-cats at all._ What had happened to them?

I padded forward. "Where are your she-cats?" I demanded. "There have got to be some."

Chirp Lionsbreath Swiftclaws the Third looked down on me with pity in his eyes, which was funny because he was at least half a head shorter than me and a scrawny little thing, for all it seemed he ate more than enough. His eyes were a defiant bright blue, and I had the feeling that he was the young, arrogant son of a well-respected tom. Now that his father had died, his "tribe" was left in his irresponsible paws.

But I forgot all this at his next remark. "The Starlady weeps to see such a kind soul as yours wasted on this coarse and rude tom!"

I stared at him, astounded. "'Starlady'?" I echoed, confused.

Chirp in turn was astonished. "You have not heard of her glories? What a terrible life you lead!"

I glared at him. "My life is fine, thank you very much," I snapped.

He shook his head woefully. "The Starlady is the she-cat in the heavens who protects all other she-cats from coarse and evil ways. If you joined my tribe she would shelter you from this harsh world. Let the mighty toms guard you all your days!"

I drew myself up and hissed. "I have been able to take care of myself far better than _you_ have. Now, tell me, _where are your she-cats?"_

He took a step back. "O-over there," he stammered, surprised at my vigor. He pointed to a large bramble structure.

I stalked over to it as Ryan began to talk to Chirp. I nosed my way into it—it reminded me of the nursery at the lake—and saw a cluster of she-cats murmuring quietly. They were well groomed and the whole place smelled strongly of daisies. They froze when the saw me.

I nodded to them. "So you follow this 'Starlady'?"

A pale gray she-cat rose to her paws. "Yes," she murmured huskily, "she has taken away all our worries but for that of our children."

Most of the she-cats murmured in agreement and nodded. I noticed a few in the back who were either looking at me with interest or glaring at the murmurers. None of them said anything.

I raised an eyebrow. "You actually _believe_ this nonsense? All of you?"

The she-cat who had spoken gasped. "The Starlady is the best thing that has ever happened to me!"

I noticed that all of the murmurers were young, younger than me on average. The ones who were as old or older than me were mostly not speaking. They were the ones with battle scars and scornful looks.

"You don't believe it," I said, directing my gaze to the older she-cats.

They exchanged glances. "It's nonsense," spat one of them. "There is no Starlady; Chirp made her up."

The younger cats gasped. Then a flurry of noise began.

Over that I heard a deafening screech from outdoors.

_Oh no,_ I thought. _Ryan!_

* * *

I turned and raced out of the den, my heart pounding. Was Ryan hurt? What was happening?

When my head popped into the clearing, I knew I was a fool. Ryan was on top of Chirp, who wasn't looking so Lionsbreath-y and Swiftclaw-y now. He was wailing and pleading for his life.

The look in Ryan's eyes was hard. "After what you've done to those she-cats, you don't deserve mercy." He sighed. "But I'll give it to you anyway." He lifted his paws off the sniveling coward, who raced out of the camp, whining.

Ryan grunted. "Serves him right." He turned his magnificent dark ginger head toward Chirp's friends. "Are any of you going to argue?"

They looked at him, mouths hanging open. I smiled at him when he looked at me and padded over to him. "Not _all _the she-cats are converts."

He smiled sadly. "There's still ShadowClan yet, you know."

"Yeah." I sighed. "I guess I'll see you, then?"

He nodded and said, "If I can fit it into my schedule. I'll be quite busy with this lot." He jerked his head toward the fat toms and the she-cats who were padding out of their den to see the source of the commotion.

I grinned and padded out of the camp, just as I heard him introduce himself to his new Clan as Thunder.

* * *

I nosed my way through the damp and dank ShadowClan territory—or at least, eventual ShadowClan territory. Now I was glad for my change in fur—the black absorbed heat better than my previous ginger, and its length helped me keep that heat in. It was cold in ShadowClan.

I heard a hiss. My ears pricked up. "Who's there?"

A long, slow chuckle came from the woods. Suddenly I was surrounded. A hauntingly familiar silvery she-cat with dazzling blue eyes purred in front of me, purring softly, "Ah, Gingerstar, we have been waiting for you..."


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN**

* * *

I gaped at the silver cat, who just purred at my obvious confusion.

"Oh, yes, my friend—we've been expecting you for _ages!"_ the she-cat murmured. "My name is—"

"_Silver,"_ I spat, my voice drenched in poison. If _she_ was the leader of pre-ShadowClan, I would have my work cut out trying to defeat her.

Ah. I can see you're confused.

See, back after the Dark Forest war, there was an era of peace. Before, I didn't see much reason to mention Silver—mostly because I was ashamed.

Silver came into ThunderClan as a poor, lost, kittypet. I let her stay the night in the "guest room", expecting her to leave the next day. However, once I realized she had quite an aptitude for warrior life, I invited her to stay in the Clan. Of course she accepted.

Silver was trained by Mothface, and was eventually given the name of Silverclaw. Silverclaw was popular with the toms but never picked a mate. She was also secretly being trained as an assassin in her sleep by Pigface, my old enemy.

She killed three of my cats. I was ashamed to mention it, as I couldn't trace the murders back to her until she attempted to kill me. I was ashamed because I let her live in my Clan without realizing what she had done.

I was weak, because I couldn't think bad of her.

Silver made me untrusting. It took me a long time before I truly recovered from her.

I banished her and stripped her of her warrior title, leaving her plain Silver, as she was before. When I banished her, she walked away and gave me a look of purest hatred, saying, "You haven't seen the last of me, Gingerstar! I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do, even if it was before you were ever born!"

Now I knew what she meant. Pigface had been alert of all possibilites.

Silver lunged toward me, emerald eyes glittering.

For a moment, panic struck me and I couldn't move.

Luckily, my training kicked in. Silver landed right where my neck used to be. I circled her and pounced, but she was too fast for me. I fainted left and struck the right side of her head. She stepped back, woozy, and I leapt in, shrieking battle cries. She dodged me and kicked my head.

The force of her kick jarred my brain, perhaps giving me a concussion. I wouldn't know, as I passed out as I heard her whisper, "Dear Gingerstar, I have my revenge..."

* * *

Silver prodded the body of the former Gingerstar. She was still alive, just knocked out. She twitched her tail, disappointed.

Her lieutenant, Adder sniffed the black lump of fur. "Alive?"

Silver nodded. "Just. We should take her back to camp." She stretched and said, "Get two cats to drag her. I think she's learned her lesson."

As Silver trotted in the lead of her pack, she smiled smugly. The great Gingerstar had fallen! She would make sure that the now black she-cat would be closely watched and guarded—there was no telling what she might do.

She remembered how glad she had been when the great reddish tom, Pigface, had approached her in a dream. At first she had been tricked into being taught battle moves "for the good of the Clan," but eventually realized who he was and how far in debt she was to Pigface. She had liked Gingerstar, and hadn't wanted to kill her, but Pigface had been quite... persuasive. She shuddered as she remembered what the green-eyed tom had threatened to do to her if she had not obeyed.

So she was sent to assassinate her leader. She was caught, of course, and banished. Now realizing why Pigface hated Gingerstar so much, Silver had run off and sworn allegiance to the bitter tom.

When Gingerstar died—sadly at the paws of her own friend, not Silver—she and her dark mentor had rejoiced. Then Pigface had sent her back in time when he realized he would be turned human and sent to live a normal life. Silver was glad to be given a chance at a new life, but was puzzled as to why she was here.

Until she scented Gingerstar on her newly established territory, that was. Now her reason was clear: humiliate the former leader and kill her painfully.

This was going to be fun.

* * *

I woke bleary-eyed in an unknown territory. For a moment, I was back at home, muttering to my alarm clock, "Just a few more minutes, Mom... I'm tired..."

Then an unsheathed paw landed me a blow to the side of the head and woke me up to reality. I sprang to my paws as I saw Silver smiling cruelly, cooing, "Aww, does the likkle Gingewstaw want hew mommy?" Suddenly her tone became cold and calculating. "Well you won't get her. Get up and welcome to SilverClan."

I glared at her as I stiffly padded behind her. She showed me the camp, then told me of my position: I was a slave; a captive; a prisoner from another Clan. I was to feed the wounded warriors, carry out the killings of those to old to work—Silver thought elders were a waste of space and resources—take care of the queens and kits, and obey her beck and call. If I don't, then I will be injured in many ways—some I don't wish to describe.

It filled me with rage.

Silver directed me to sit below her as she assembled a Clan meeting. She called SilverClan a Clan, but it isn't. Clans follow the warrior code; Silver and her followers blatantly disregarded it.

"Cats of SilverClan!" she called. "Gather here today to hear of the good news I have brung back with me from my weekly scour."

_Weekly scour?_ I wondered. _What does she mean by that?_

As the cats assemble, Silver mewed, "An old enemy of mine was found in our territory. She will now be known as Slave 14."

Slave 14? I was to be known by a number?

And if I was Slave 14, did that mean there were 13 slaves before me?

Silver"Clan" was confusing. But it was also my new home.

Well, that's just _great._


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

* * *

The slaves were sorry lumps of fur. They scattered when Silver approached the hole they slept in, hurrying to go about their duties. A glare from the big brown tom who was following us sent them scurrying back to their original position. It seemed they hadn't realized someone else was with their leader.

I frowned as I realized only seven slaves were visible. What had happened to the rest of them?

"Slaves! Attention!" the tom snapped. The cats went rigid.

"This is 14," Silver said. "She'll be joining you. 3, show her the ropes. She'll have two days before I review her progress."

One of the cats, an old tom, nodded and bowed low. Silver and the tabby went away.

The old tom padded up to me. "I'm Slave 3. These are slaves 5, 6, 9, 11, 12, and 13. The rest of us—1, 2, 4, 7, 8, and 10—are all dead for incompetence or rebellion. Curb your tongue, watch your manners, and do as you're told, and you'll be spared."

He said this all in a matter-of-fact tone that made me shiver. "Why don't you escape?" I queried.

3 looked at me as if I were crazy. "They'd catch us. They always do. 4 and 8 tried it—look at them." He flicked his tail toward a tree, where a pile of bones lay. I shivered.

"Well, then, 3," I began, "my name is Sha—"

"Shh!" 3 said furtively. "We're not allowed to say our names. We are numbers now. We do as we're told, or we die. Fourteen long weeks Silver has kept us under reign—one slave for each of her weekly scours."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

He sighed, then said, "Silver, Adder, and a few of her other cronies go out into her territory. They scour the land of any cats, either killing them, recruiting them, or bringing them back to be a slave. This is how life works around SilverClan."

"This is not a Clan," I said flatly. "I've been in a Clan, I've led one. Silver's group is not a Clan."

"Words like that bring on their wings death," 3 murmured. "Most of them—" he pointed to the slaves "—would sell you out if you even mentioned escape or said something that _they_ wouldn't like, just to get an extra scrap of food."

I flopped down, feeling doomed. Escape couldn't be impossible. I would just have to try.

* * *

The tasks I preformed as a slave ranged from downright ridiculous to disgustingly horrifying. Sometimes I had to clear away the dirt of full-grown warriors while they guffawed at me. I had to count all the bones in that horrible bonepile, and once a "warrior" was deemed too old and sentenced to execution. I nearly fainted when Silver looked at me, but breathed a sigh of relief that I instantly regretted as she ordered 3 to do the dirty work. 3 looked at me sorrowfully, and muttered on his way out with the "warrior", "It'll be your turn soon, 14."

A week later, I began to form the beginnings of a plan. Step one: escape Silver"Clan". Step two: find Thunder. Step three: get revenge on Silver.

Well, I needed more details, but for a beginning, it was good. Time to execute step one.

After I finished my morning chores—help 3 train 15, Silver's new slave; clear out the "warriors" den; hunt for Silver and her deputies (with proper supervision, of course); etc—I announced to the other slaves that I was going on a walk. We had a short free period, right after the leaders took their midday nap, where we could do anything we wanted as long as we were under supervision. All but 9, who looked away, nodded, and I went to inform Silver. Silver had been surprisingly lenient with me—after what I'd done to her, I expected her to play with me.

I coughed politely. "Great Leader Silver," I mewed respectfully, "it is my break. May I take a walk, if one of your... warriors comes with me?"

Silver blinked lazily. "No, no," she purred, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Only one warrior? That won't do at all! For someone of _your_ rank, 14, I think you should take at _least_ three." She sighed, as if in regret. "You need someone to _watch your back,_ if I dare put it so. I wouldn't want someone getting _ideas._"

I mentally kicked myself for being so obvious. Who had betrayed me? I hadn't told anyone, but then again, they had all known I was restless being a slave. Taking orders just wasn't my thing. I was more used to giving them. Ah well. I should be less trustful next time.

Still, even if I couldn't escape, a walk would be nice.

"Then may I take three... warriors?" I asked, gritting my teeth. "I assure you that I will... behave."

Silver smiled wryly. "Ah, but we cannot spare three warriors for a simple slave. I'm afraid your walk will have to wait." She glanced at the sun. "Your free time is over, I'm afraid. I have a special task for you, 14."

I bowed. "I am at your Greatness's command."

She leaned in closer, allowing me to smell her stinking breath. Well, it didn't actually stink—she had been chewing on catnip, and the smell was intoxicating. "You must kill Adder," she whispered. "I fear he has become disloyal. Do this, and you will be freed."

She soon dismissed me. Adder was one of her deputies. It was so simple a kit could see it—if I killed Adder, the blame would be placed squarely on my shoulders; and, since I was a slave, no one would think to look for the cat who had ordered me to do so. Silver's cats thought she was great leader, that was for certain. If they knew the full extent of her treachery, I don't think they would be so eager to serve her. They might even revolt.

But I had not choice to obey. The order had been given; I, the slave, must obey.


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

* * *

Well, Step One didn't work out so well. Now I had to go and kill Adder. There was probably some way I could escape from this, but frankly I was in a bad mood and unwilling to think about it. Silver's instruction had been to kill Adder; I could not disobey for fear of her wrath.

As I stalked over to where Adder was resting on a rock, a sudden thought struck me. Silver had not been specific with her orders. Perhaps I could find a loophole...

I forced myself to walk forward, each step torture to my mind. I couldn't kill this tom, for all he was one of Silver's cronies. He was basking in the sunshine, eyes closed. As I reached him, my mind worked furiously. Suddenly, an idea clicked into my brain. It may seem hopeless, but it might just do the trick if Adder wasn't actually growing less loyal to Silver.

I crouched at the ground in respectful silence, waiting for Adder to acknowledge me. After a few moments passed by, I let out a quiet cough to let him know I was there. He opened one eye, yawned, and waved a large paw, signaling I could speak.

I looked up, getting my first good look at him. What I saw was not comforting.

Adder had been on the patrol that caught me in Silver's little trap. He had went along with Silver when she introduced me to 3 and the rest. He was a dark brown tabby tom with wickedly long claws and chillingly familiar cutting amber eyes. My neck fur bristled. He was the spitting image of Tigerstar and his son—my former colleague—Brambleclaw. He must be their ancestor. I raised an eyebrow, then lowered it quickly.

"Deputy Adder, Silver sends her regards. She informs me that you, her Once-Great Deputy, have been meddling in disloyal activities," I began, trying to sound as humble as possible. Around me, the ears of the "warriors" pricked up in interest. I flicked the tip of my tail ever so slightly in satisfaction. Step Two was going well.

Adder leaned down and glared into my face. "Why doesn't she tell me herself?" he growled.

I shrugged and replied, "Beats me." Then, because that might come across disrespectful, I added, "But she probably has a good reason." And this is where my plan took action. "Now, Deputy Adder, I come to the point Silver sent me for. Since she fears your disloyalty has reached a point where it must become eliminated, she has sent me, the humble slave, to carry out the task of execution."

Adder leapt to his paws, righteous anger filling his eyes. "I never put one paw out of line!" he spat. "Not even when Silver proposed her disgusting ideas of killing our elders and gathering slaves! I just went along with it, like a good little deputy, not complaining and fighting her fights! If Silver wants to kill me, she'll have to kill me herself!"

I nodded regretfully, exulting on the inside, and said, "I'm afraid her orders were quite precise. Plus... she promised that if I killed you I would be freed."

Some of the other "warriors", who were gawping at this little scene, began to mutter among themselves at this. I crouched down and swished my tail. Adder thought that I was just a puny little slave, somecat who couldn't hurt him, but I wasn't. I was a _warrior._ I may not be part of a Clan right now, I may not be in the best shape, and I may not look like I used to, but I was a warrior, and I had fought bigger cats than him and won before. Plus, my new body was a lot larger than my old—nearly as big as him.

Adder, still filled with wrath, began to stalk off and didn't notice me. There were three things that could happen now: 1) I would leap on him, kill him, and demand my freedom from Silver, 2) I would leap on him, attempt to kill him, be defeated and killed, or 3) I would leap on him, attempt to kill him, be defeated but not be killed, would follow him, and watch as he fought Silver to the death. At any rate, I would have to leap on him, and depending on his fighting prowess kill him, die, or hope he wins his fight with Silver and is in a good mood afterward.

That or I could just run away now.

After a moment's indecision, I sprung and landed on Adder's striped back, my claws digging into his flesh. He let out a yowl of pain and reared onto his hind legs, ready to fall on his back and crush me. I wisely let go and darted out of the way just in time. My eyes narrowed, I leapt upon his stomach, driving the wind out of him. This was proving far easier than I had thought. I dug my claws into his soft underbelly, producing a high-pitched wail undignified for a deputy. I lifted my right paw, claws unsheathed, from his belly, and placed it ever so gently over his throat. He quieted instantly, eyes focused upon that one point. Before I sliced his windpipe, I raised my head to the gaping "Clan".

"I don't want to do this," I said, my voice loud and clear, enough to be heard from across the camp. "I truly don't. Adder here was just following Silver's commands." I narrowed my eyes and swished my pluming tail. "But I must obey my master, mustn't I, Silver?"

Silver, watching the scene with a shocked expression, regained her composure and said woefully, "14, why must you—"

I cut her off. "No. I'm not Slave 14. My name is SHADOW!" I cried, tightening my grip on Adder's belly. He let out a pitiful whine.

I saw a flash of shock and fear in her eyes. No doubt she just realized that, unlike her, StarClan had sent me back in time for a reason—to not simply lead this Clan, but to form it. However, it soon vanished, and she continued in a level tone, "No, 14. You are my slave, I am your master, you must obey me! Why must you spread these lies about me, slave? I never ordered you to kill my trusted deputy!"

I grinned wickedly. "Ah, but you did! Ask Slave 9, your trusted spy, who was eavesdropping on our conversation!"

9 flinched backward. I bared my teeth at her. She squirmed uncomfortably. In a small voice, she replied, "I-it's true. Silver did ask her to ..."

"Well, there you have it!" I exclaimed, pleased. "Now you see her lies? I've been part of a Clan, _and this isn't one!_ This is a gang. Clans have laws. Clans are stable, Clans are united! And, most important of all, Clans are merciful." At this, I took my paw away from Adder's throat and released my grip on his belly. I stepped off him and dipped my head to him. He rose, wonder in his eyes, and crouched on the ground as a sign of submission.

I rose, began to circle Silver, and snarled, "This has gone on too long, Silver. We settle this now!"


	13. Chapter 13

**Hi. So yeah, me again. Thank you guys for all of your support. (Although, Twirlgirl, I am most definitely not the best author on Fanfiction. Thank's for the compliment, though. XD)**

**All right, let's get down to business. I'm posting this on Sunday because, what the heck I might as well and I'm probably going to forget tomorrow anyway. For the past month of my summer, I've had almost nothing to do. Right now things are about to pick up, because on Wednesday my cousins are coming to visit and that marks the start of our family reunion. Until the Tuesday after this coming, the 30th, I will probably have some spotty time on the computer. After that, I go to Camp until Saturday, then on Sunday I'm going on vacation in Utah until the 14th. While I might be able to update next week, I won't be able to for two weeks in a row. Just thought I might let you know. You know, I suppose I could have just said that instead of dragging it out and explaining why I'm going to be gone... What is this thing you call logic?!**

**Also, holy crap I'm getting close to where I'll actually have to start writing again. I better get busy!**

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**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

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Silver gaped at me, mouth flopping open and closed like a fish. I stalked toward her crouched on the ground, preparing for the coming showdown.

She regained her composure and smiled at me, blue eyes glittering. "I will fight you with pleasure," she mewed. "And I will laugh at your dead body. Last time we fought, I won. Remember that."

"But the time before, _I_ won," I said, voice deadly. "_You_ remember _that._"

Silver smirked. "Still got some spirit in you, I see," she purred. "What fun it will be to squash it!"

I tensed my muscles and prepared to leap. She did likewise. Just as I was about to spring, a cat with bloodied and torn fur burst through the barrier into camp and collapsed in front of us. We both straightened in surprise.

"Sparrow... dead," he gasped. "New leader... Wind. She's... attacking. Need... reinforcements... at boundary. Now!" Then his eyes rolled up into his head and he fainted.

Silver looked torn. She needed to lead her "Clan" into battle against Josie—sorry, I mean Wind—but on the other paw, she had me to deal with. Shooting me a hateful glance, she said, "I need to deal with this now. You're coming with me, and I'll kill you later."

I blinked in surprise. She was putting me aside for her "Clan"? She must be more honorable than I thought.

I hate knowing good things about my enemies. It makes it harder to kill them. Then again, she _did_ say, "I'll kill you later."

"But—you're evil!" I exclaimed. "You should be putting your revenge before your Clan!"

Silver laughed. "I do have _some_ sense of honor."

I shrugged. "So... you want me to come to the battlefield?"

"Wood, Briar, Dawn, Lucky—you're on the left flank... sorry, did you say something?" Silver turned her head toward me.

I repeated my question. She shrugged. "Yes. You and I will fight there. Do you have a problem?"

I blinked, surprised. "Um... no." I flexed my claws, tense for the fight to come.

If I were desperate, I would have leaped on her when her back was turned and killed her swiftly. But I wasn't desperate, and that would be dishonorable. Silver had set the date and time, and I would go along with it. After all, we were still going to try to kill each other. Just not immediately.

Wow, that sounds very strange. I guess I am a strange sort of person. Or cat. Person-cat.

Soon the fighting force was assembled. I paced through the warriors and up toward the front of the mob where Silver was giving a pep rally. It was a short one, of course, because of the urgency of the matter. With a final hurrah, she shouted, "SilverClan, to victory!"

The warriors took up her cheer. I remained silent. The slaves around the camp poked their heads out of their shelters and gazed at me in wonder. I locked eyes with 3 and jerked my head toward the dirtplace exit. 3 frowned and shook his head. I shrugged my head and mouthed, _I gave you a chance._

The warriors moved forward, sweeping me along with them. I picked up my pace to run just behind Silver. My pelt was itching in suspense. Of all the times Josie/Wind could have picked to launch an attack, why did she have to pick now?

We arrived at the Thunderpath border not a moment too soon for the much needed SilverClan backup. Little battles were raging all around us on both sides of the border. Silver shouted of the din of fighting cats, "SilverClan—attack!" then turned to me and said, "We begin."

I was one step ahead of her. As soon as her cats had dispersed, I crouched to the ground and leaped. She staggered as I landed on her shoulders, then tensed and kicked my exposed belly with her hindpaws.

I released her, gasping for air. Silver had driven the wind from me. She didn't pounce on my right away, instead choosing to recover. We were both ready for action at the same time, and leapt at each other simultaneously.

We met in midair, clawing at each other's backs and screaming the scream of feral cats at war. We landed on our hind legs with a _thud_, still fighting. I sunk my teeth into Silver's shoulder, and she raked her claws up my back.

I didn't feel the pain in my battle haze. All I could focus on was the steady beating of my enemy's heart, and the constant need to stop it.

We released each other and dropped to the ground. The moment we hit it, the dark clouds above us burst open with a _boom_ of thunder, and rain began to pour down upon our miserable heads. Just Mother Nature's friendly little way of showing that _she_ was still the most powerful thing around, despite the battles of puny little kittens like us.

We prowled in a circle, looking for an opening where we could leap in and attack. I kept my head low, close to my chest to protect my throat. Silver did likewise.

There—as she crouched, waving slightly side to side, her neck lifted ever so slightly... just enough room for a nimble claw to dart in. I leapt suddenly, screeching, but she moved out of the way just in time. I fumbled to a stop, wheeling around, but it was too late.

Silver leapt at me in slow motion. I felt panic rising in my chest. I lifted a paw to stop her, but she didn't care. She bowled me end over end in the middle of the melee. When I stopped rolling, she was on top of me.

Despair washed through me. I was caught. There was no way out. Glaring down at me triumphantly was Silver, teeth bared in a delighted smile.

"Goodbye, Gingerstar," she whispered. "Goodbye, Shadow. Goodbye, ShadowClan... hello, SilverClan's legacy!"

My blood froze at the meaning of her words. If she killed me before I formed ShadowClan, she would be the founder of the Clan in ShadowClan's place, and her legacy would live forever while mine faded. I braced myself for death...

...and then, with an _oompf_, she went flying across the moor as a mysterious force crashed into her and lifted her weight off me.

I scrambled to my paws, staring in amazement at Silver's rapidly retreating figure screeched, "SilverClan, retreat!"

I turned to look at my savior as the surprised SilverClan warriors dashed across the grass and back into their own territory. A brown cat with thin fur plastered against her body in the rain smile triumphantly at her defeated foe. I blinked as she turned to me. Her smile changed from victorious to delighted, and I laughed at loud as I realized that it was Josie.


	14. Chapter 14

**Okay. I know I just updated on Sunday but I have a question for you guys and I'm going on vacation, so yeah. This is a filler chapter so it isn't that big of a deal. Okay, here's my question:**

**I'm trying to figure out the plot for the third Chaos Chronicles 'book'. I have most of it written down and good to go, but I'm planning to have a human-cat from CITC come back as a major character. Which one would you guys like to see again? Mothface, Wolfstar, anyone else? Leave your suggestions in the reviews, please!**

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**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

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"Josie!" I cried. The rain was really pouring now, and I had to shout to make myself heard.

Josie smiled wetly. "Annie! Come on, let's get to the camp." She looked at me sideways. "That is, if you want to stay with us."

I nodded my head heartily. "I've had enough with Silver recently," I sighed. "It will be nice to get away from her."

Josie gathered her cats and we trotted back to her makeshift camp on the moor. It wasn't very impressive, just a bunch of miserable cats clumped together under a few gorse bushes.

She smiled at me regretfully. "We haven't found our dream home yet," she sighed. "We'll get there eventually."

I shivered in the rain, then said, "That's okay." I yawned. "Is there somewhere I can sleep?"

"Under that bush over there," Josie said, flicking her tail in the right direction. "It's not much, but it will have to do."

I nodded and padded over to the bush as the rain poured down without mercy. After Josie—I should really be calling her Wind—explained the situation with me to her cats, I got many curious looks from them. A few kits padded up to me as I was trying to sleep and stared at me. When I lifted my eyelids, I asked, "What is it, little kits?"

The smallest, a black she-cat, squeaked, "You fighted Silver!"

"And nearly died, yes," I muttered. The kit squealed in excitement and said, "We should tell mommy!"

"Your mommy probably already knows," I said. "Josie told everyone."

A big gray kit asked, "Who's Josie?"

"Sorry. Wind." I closed my eyes again. The rain was still pouring down, and I was soaked to the bone. The kits didn't seem to mind.

Another kit piped up. "Ooh! We _love_ Wind! She's so nice!"

The largest kit, who looked to be about five moons asked, "Why did you call Wind 'Josie'?"

I opened my eyes once more, irritated. "I called her that because I knew her a long time before you did and she used to be called Josie. Now please leave me alone. I'm tired and I want to sleep."

The big kit nodded. "I'm sorry," he said. He turned to the other kits and said, "Let's go back. She's tired."

He was a smart kit. I liked him.

But that was unimportant. I closed my eyes again and slept in the drenching rain.

* * *

I stayed with Josie for many days, recovering my strength. I became friends with some of her cats and talked with Josie well into the night, like we used to before we were cats.

For the first few days, most of the cats were wary of me. The kits were in awe of me, perhaps because Silver was not very popular outside her "Clan," and the fact I had fought her seemed to be hard to believe. I was a little uncomfortable at first, as I'm not really a kid person, but I eventually warmed to them. It was this that seemed to be the turning point.

After I regained my strength, I volunteered to go hunting, even though I was horrible at catching rabbits. However, in the few areas with trees near the borders, I brought back woodland prey for me and the cats who didn't shun any prey but rabbits. Don't get me wrong, hares are great, but I started getting wistful for a good old mouse after three days of nothing but moor hoppers.

I also got caught up in quite a few skirmishes. Silver's cats attacked two days after I began my sojourn in Josie's pre-Clan, while I was still nursing my wounds. This time they won, and took a little bite of territory across the Thunderpath. However, they rarely used it, and within four days we had reclaimed it without a fight.

They also had problems with a small group of cats following a cat named Hazel who were hiding out in a corner of the moor. Hazel used to be part of Josie's group, one of Sparrow's loyals, but she detested Josie because the latter was faster than her. In fact, Josie—or Wind—was well renowned as the fastest cat on the moors.

Hazel and a small group of Wind-haters (interestingly, the two cats Josie attacked that first day on the moor, Path and Claw, were classified in this group) had taken flight and started their own little gang. Every few days, they sent a patrol to attack Wind's cats. She just sent out a larger group of cats to beat the pulp out of them, but they kept coming back for more.

She also had rivalry problems with Trout's group. She and him both claimed the land in between a small Twoleg path and the gorge. They often fought when one of them found the other in "their" territory. I thought that both of them have equal claim to the land; but Josie disagreed. After the first argument, I dropped the subject.

Life went on for a few weeks. I became uneasy as I realized that I was fighting five out of seven days a week. Josie hadn't been a cat before, so she didn't understand that we didn't need this much fighting. And, after all, she couldn't just take the peaceful solution without looking weak.

At the next half moon, I realized with a start that we had been here for over a moon. Jayfeather would have either won or lost his political war by now—I expected the former—and Macks would surely have settled into his new home. Ryan would be leading a reformed Chirp Lionsbreath Swiftclaws Tribe, and most likely all of them would be experiencing the same hardships Josie was.

Quite a while later, I was licking my wounds from yet _another_ skirmish with Trout's group when the messenger came.

She was slightly familiar. Her pale gray fur was neat and well-kept, but the scars of battle still showed. Her blue eyes were courteous and wary in the camp of a rival gang. I frowned. Where did I know her?

She cast her eyes around the makeshift camp, and raised an eyebrow—forgive me; cats do not have eyebrows—she raised the _equivalent_ of an eyebrow at the sight of me. Then it struck me. This was one of Ryan's cats, a queen who had firmly believed in the Starlady! She had certainly changed since Ryan took over.

Two of Josie's cats were on either side of her, glaring at her suspiciously. One of them was Gorse, Sparrow's dreamy brother. I smiled quietly. Gorse had a bit of a crush on Josie, and was desperate to prove himself. While Gorse, who liked me well enough, had confessed this to me, Josie—whom everyone else called Wind—was still blissfully unaware.

Gorse called, "Wind! You have a visitor!"

Josie lifted her head from where she was resting under a bush. Confusion flicked across her eyes, then vanished. "Greetings," she mewed respectfully. "I am Wind. What is your business on the moor?"

The she-cat dipped her head in respect. "I am Puddle," she began. "I have been sent by my leader, Thunder, to all the groups in the forest with a proposition."

Josie lifted her head proudly, and said, "We are not in the forest, Puddle. We are on the moor."

"The word 'forest' was used as a general term," Puddle replied mildly. "It encompasses the marshes, moors, and hill country as well."

Josie nodded. "Very well. Continue."

"Thunder has noted that since he defeated Chirp and established his reign, there has been quite a lot of contention between groups of cats. He suggests we get together at the next full moon, in two days. There we can talk it out, and try to settle our differences and the conflict." Puddle blinked. "How does that sound, Wind?"

Josie looked thoughtful. Then she frowned, looking at me with suspicion. I realized that she realized that if she said yes, her gang would go to the pre-Gathering and end up half-obliterated from the great battle that will take place. However, if she said no, she wouldn't go, and she wouldn't be there to stake her claim at ruling the forest, and, eventually, WindClan.

After a few moment's indecision, Josie made her decision. "We'll be there, Puddle. Thunder can count on it."


	15. Chapter 15

**Because of my aforementioned vacation, I'm updating whenever I get the chance. I might be able to get on next Monday, but this might be my last update before I get back on the 15th.**

**Also, by popular demand, Sam/Wolfstar will be returning in the sequel to this story, Meddling with Destiny. ;D**

***rubs hands together* Things are starting to get very interesting! I hope you enjoy this chapter! This was also the last chapter I posted on the warriors forums, so from here on out everything is nice and new.**

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**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

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Two days later at moonhigh, it was time.

Josie and the majority of her cats marched grimly across the moor to what was acknowledged by all as neutral ground: a clearing surrounded by four large oaks with a rock in the center. Even way back when it was called Fourtrees.

Josie stopped right before Fourtrees to address her cats. "My friends," she began, "today we are gathering to settle our differences and perhaps stop the fighting with the other gangs of cats. I know that we were all born with teeth and claws for a reason, but tonight we need to sheathe our claws and open our mouths only to talk. Please, control yourselves. I do not doubt you, but I must remind you to be steady, no matter what the other gangs may say. Remember that the future depends on you!"

The cats cheered as Josie led them down the slope to the gathering place where already there were at least a hundred cats milling around. I could see all of our original companions—Macks was talking with Domino and an old tom who I presumed was Trout; Jeff was milling around the crowd, stopping to chat with a cat or two before walking away to speak with someone else; and Ryan was peering around the crowd from what would soon be called the Great Rock.

I trotted over to Ryan. "Thunder!" I called up from the base of the rock.

He looked down. A grin broke across his face. "Shadow!"

He leapt down, purring, and said, "I'm glad to see you again. How did things go in pre-ShadowClan?"

I made a face. "Not well at all. Do you remember Silver?"

"What?!" he exclaimed. "Silver? How did _she_ get here?"

I shrugged. "Beats me. Anyway," I began, "she made me her slave for a while, until I revolted. We were about to fight when a messenger came in that there was a fight on the moor, so she postponed the fight until we got the battlefield. She was about to beat me when Josie saved me, and I've lived with her for about a moon."

Ryan winced. "That's unfortunate. We all managed to get up on top of our groups... except Macks. He's treated like an apprentice."

I looked at him curiously and asked, "How do you know?"

"Trout has been trying to claim land on my side of the river. I've run into Macks quite a few times."

I nodded sympathetically, then sighed. "Silver is still in charge," I complained. "I don't want history to be changed and there to be a SilverClan, not a ShadowClan."

Ryan opened his mouth to say something when a yowl rang out. By now, roughly a hundred and fifty cats had assembled, and Fourtrees was filled to the bursting. The yowl cam from Josie. She was standing on the Great Rock, fur illuminated in the moonlight. All the cats quieted and stared at her.

She looked very regal on the rock, head held high with an imperious stare. I could hardly believe that this cat was the Josie I used to know.

"Cats of the forest!" she called. "I suggest that the leaders of the various gangs, tribes, and groups assemble on this rock. We can overlook our cats and can be easily seen. Do you agree?"

Reluctantly, the other leaders muttered agreement and hopped up on the rocks with her. I saw the frail Trout, along with the ever-present Domino crouching at his leaders paws. Jeff was there, as were Ryan and Hazel. There were about six other cats I didn't recognize, apparently the leaders of smaller groups in the area.

Then the leaders began to talk. Josie and Ryan tried to keep things peaceful when fights broke out, but it was bound to fail.

The fight started when Trout accused Josie of stealing his territory. Josie hissed at him that the land across the gorge rightfully belonged to her. Trout snarled that the land was his, and the moors might as well be also because his gang could swim the gorge. Josie, at that point, lost it.

She flung herself at Trout, screaming insults. Trout took a startled step backward and fell of the rock. A cat that old from a fall that high... he didn't stand a chance.

Josie landed on his dying body, eyes full of the light of battle. There was a shocked silence for a few moments. Josie looked at me, a horrified expression in her eyes.

Then all Dark Forest broke out.

Trout's supporters leapt, screeching, at Josie's warriors. Everyone else quickly backed away, trying to avoid the fighting mass of cats, until a moor cat attacked a cat I recognized as being led by Hazel. With a snarl, that cat broke into battle, and from that point out, it was a free-for-all fight.

Silver jumped down from the boulder and onto the shoulders of one of Ryan's warriors. He toppled over, and Silver emerged once more from the fray, this time, leaping toward me.

I hissed and screeched at her. She landed on the ground inches from my face.

"Gingerstar, we meet once more on the battlefield," she hissed. "And this really _will_ be the last time!"

All around us, the fight raged. The noise faded into the background. All I focused on was Silver's movements.

We circled each other, growls forming deep in our throats. I let my training kick in and suddenly pounced on her. She rolled over, smashing me against the ground, but I gripped ever tighter. My claws dug deep, deep into her skin and muscle on her back, staining my claws and her silvery pelt with blood. She shrieked a terrible shriek of pain and rolled over back onto the ground and began to shake. She shook herself violently from side to side and I was jostled this way and that.

I quickly sheathed my claws and was soon catapulted of Silver's back. I landed on top of Domino, the wind knocked out of me. He turned on me, snarling, then saw my condition and mercifully kicked me away to focus on his other opponent. I regained my breath and spotted Silver looking for me, bloodlust in her eyes.

I used the opportunity of the chaos around me to sneak up on Silver. I managed to weave my way toward her. When I saw her unprotected back as she was battling with another cat, I hesitated. It was not the way of the warrior to attack like this. It was one thing to kill a foe in the heat of battle, when it was either you or your opponent; another to sneak up on them and strike from behind.

Then I saw who Silver was fighting. It was Ryan.

Both were equal fighters, but Silver was taking no chances. This tom was big, bold, and strong, something not to gamble with. She was using the sneakiest, dirtiest tricks and moves on him, and he was only just recovering in time.

That settled it. I was going in.

With a yowl of hate and anger, I flung myself at Silver's back. She reared in surprise, releasing Ryan. The large tom was covered in scratches and bites, obviously unused to being injured. The light of battle was in his eyes, but his sorry state required him to slink away and lick his wounds rather than help me defeat Silver. I supposed I was on my own.

I scored my claws not-so-gently across Silver's back, reopening the wounds that had just stopped bleeding from my previous attack. She let out a wail of pain and thrashed about. This time I had learned my lesson and slipped off before I was flung off. She shivered and cowered close to the ground, an almost pitiable sight.

Almost. When she looked up, the hate in her eyes was so strong that I nearly took a step back. "You," she hissed, "will die by my claws, or I will be dead by dawn!"

Perhaps not such a wise oath to give. I, too, was bent on killing my opponent, and I was in perhaps a slightly better condition than her.

Our battle seemed to last forever, whirling and dodging and causing little hurts here and there. In my battle-crazed state, it was hard to focus, but at least it blocked out the unbearable pain I knew would come later.

At last, when the battle was beginning to die down and cats were dropping to the ground with exhaustion, I saw something I had been longing for all these long hours.

An opening.

I lunged out, screaming a final scream of exhaustion and hate, and sliced my claws down Silver's belly. Blood poured from her wounds, and she looked down, the pain overcoming the battle frenzy. She watched the life literally bleed out of her, a look of shock and repulsion on her face. Then she flopped down on the ground.

Dead. Dead at last.

I let out a crazed laugh, my tail whisking from side to side, and did a little bloodthirsty happy dance. Then my exhaustion overcame me and I sunk to my knees.

Silver was dead. The cats could rest now, rest in the blood-stained moonlit clearing.


	16. Chapter 16

**So I didn't think I'd be updating for a while, but my cousins have wifi, so here you go!**

**If you're bored or interested, you could probably go through the introduction of Secrets of the Clans and find most of what the characters say in this chapter repeated word for word. XD**

* * *

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

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I woke much later. The clearing was bathed in moonlight. I groaned as my wounds, before dulled by the excitement of the battle, began to ache. All around me, the bodies of the dead lay still, throats ripped and pelts scratched. I saw other cats around me begin to wake, staring in horror at the massacre surrounding us. I groaned and closed my eyes, reluctant to rise.

Suddenly, the moonlight grew brighter. I opened my eyes a crack, wondering if I had died and gone to StarClan. Then my eyelids flew upward in shock. The spirits of the dead were squeezing their way out of their former bodies. A murmur of shock and fear arose from the waking cats. The spirits weaved their way through the massacre toward the edge of the bloody hollow.

Once all the spirits were assembled, the cats, most of whom were now awake and gaping in shock, crouched down apprehensively as the dead began to speak.

I was reminded that most of these cats had no idea what the heck was going on. To them, once a cat was dead, they were _dead_. That's it. No more. I was glad to have lived first in a time where the dead commonly appeared to the living.

Wow, now that I think that, it sounds a little creepy. Maybe these cats had a right to be apprehensive of the spirits.

Anyway, the dead began to speak. The first to talk was a young tom, roughly apprentice age. His eyes shone with the wisdom of StarClan as he solemnly spoke.

"Tonight's gathering was intended to be one of peace," he lectured his much older audience. "But your stubbornness turned into one of bloodshed." His gaze swept over the injured crowd. I tried to ignore the pain that covered my whole body. I felt faint, but I knew I could not weaken now.

"Come, living fools," an old-looking she-cat rasped. "We, the dead, are wise now. We can see the peril that you face. Look at what your future will be if you continue on this path of destruction!"

Visions flashed before my eyes. From the wails around me, I could tell that I was not hallucinating and that everyone else could see the terrors that I saw as well. The forest drowned in blood, I saw, as the young tom spoke again.

"Please! Stop the destruction!"

"Stop, or your kits shall be stalked by death at every pawstep!" another voice pleaded.

Visions of horrible things—cats dying, murdering, turning into bloodthirsty beasts—flashed before my eyes as I cowered down.

Suddenly, the visions stopped. I could see the real world—or was this just a dream?—again. The spirit cats eyes' were pleading as the new voice called, "You must _unite_!"

Then, as one, the shouted, crowding in and almost blinding us with their starry light, "Unite or die!"

They retreated. All was silent for a moment.

Then, I realized what I had to do.

I struggled to my paws. My legs were stiff from the battle and groaned with every movement. My pelt was matted and stained with blood. Scraps of Silver's fur were stuck between my claws. I ignored my protesting body and raised my head defiantly. "My name is Shadow!" I called out, the words coming to me and flowing out naturally. The heads of every cat turned toward me as I continued, "How can we unite unless we have a leader?"

I could hear murmurs of assent. A leader seemed to be feasible. It would bring everycat together.

"I can hunt in the depths of the darkest night," I boasted, backing my bid for All-Powerful Leader. I almost smiled. I sounded ridiculously brave. If only Silver could see me now! I promised myself I would find her body later and spit on it, just out of spite.

I swept my eyes across the crowd, trying to look as confident as my words sounded. "Let Shadow rule the forest!"

There was a pause as the spirits and the living muttered amongst themselves. My heart hammered in my chest. I felt on top of the world, but I was nervous. If my claim to power went unchallenged, Clan history would be completely changed. I scrambled to remember who came next from _Secrets of the Clans_.

My worries were for nothing. Macks rose to his paws, looking older than I had ever seen him. I was surprised at the confidence he emitted as he spat, "And you would lead us into darkness too!"

The attention of the crowd swiveled to the silvery tom. His pelt, too, was stained with red. "I am River!" he called. "I move through the forest along secret paths and hidden places! It is River, not Shadow, who should unite the forest!"

Irritation and anger blossomed inside me. "Oh, really?" I muttered.

Then a movement behind me caused me to turn. The deep chocolatey-brown pelt that belonged to Josie was rippling as she stood. "The forest is more than River and Shadow," she growled. "Wind alone reaches its most distant corners. I am as fast as the wind that blows on the high moors. _I _should be the ruler."

The air was charged with tension and... something else. Something powerful; something important. This was the beginning of something... momentous.

Surrounded by corpses, lying so still I had not noticed him, was Ryan. He fumbled to his paws. He seemed to be by far the largest of the surviving cats. His deep voice rumbled as he mewed, "What good is any of that compared to my strength and skill at hunting? If any cat was born to rule, it is I."

_Says the cat who _resigned _from the post of deputy_, I thought scornfully. Then I furrowed my brows in confusion. What was it with my thoughts these days? I seemed scornful, prideful, almost untrusting.

There was a pause. _That's it, right? _I thought. _Just the four Clans._

_No, there's SkyClan yet..._

At last, the final leader stood. Jeff was smaller than any of the other hopeful leaders. "My name is Sky!" he called out loudly and forcefully. "I rule the treetops, and I can jump higher than any other cat alive! It is Sky who shall unite you!"

_Yeah, but it was my idea to have a leader in the first place_, the angry voice inside me hissed.

The cats began to murmur amongst themselves. I heard my name many times, much to my satisfaction. I growled as the murmuring grew into a furious yowling. At first, the spirit cats watched in silence, but they grew impatient as we could not work out the contention between ourselves.

In but a moment, dark, angry clouds converged over the hollow. The arguing cats crouched down, fearful once more. The gloomy light of the moon was obscured, and the fallen spirits shone brighter in the darkness. A burly tabby she-cat leapt onto the rock. As she turned to face us, I felt my throat catch, and across the hollow, I heard Josie let out a faint mew of pain. It was Thorn!

Thorn was on the patrol that killed Sparrow, and one of the strongest cats in Josie's pre-Clan. She was one of my best friends among the moor cats, as she was not extremely comfortable in the moor as she seemed. She caught on to my unease in the open quickly and confessed she shared it. I would have bet that she would have joined either Thunder- or ShadowClan if she had survived the night.

I promised myself that I would find her body among the mess of the dead and mourn over her properly, but for now I had to focus on the matter at hand. Or at paw, I suppose it would be.

"You are all as foolish as ducks!" she yowled. I almost smiled sadly. That was one of Thorn's favorite insults. Then I remembered I was supposed to be serious and looked at my paws as if in shame.

Thorn growled, her eyes bright with true anger. "Can't you think beyond yourself for one moment?" she demanded. "Think of your kits!"

_What kits?_ my new bitter inside voice growled. _I don't have any kits._

Nonetheless, I felt guilty. It was foolish, what was happening. I looked up at Thorn, ashamed. I saw the other four looking at her too. None of us could work up the courage to protest or speak.

"The forest is big enough to feed all your families, and many more," she mewed. Thorn swept her gaze across the crowd. "You must find other cats like you, choose a home in the forest, and set down boundaries."

_That makes sense_, my inside voice murmured, being sensible for once. At that momentous instant, the moon broke free of the clouds. The darkness receded and the spirits shone brighter. Another cat, this one a tom, stepped forward from the circle of ancestors. He was a lithe white-furred tom. I vaguely remembered him—he had been one of Silver's closest warriors. He was okay, for one of _them_. I recalled his name. Ice, that was it.

"If you do this," he said gravely, speaking to the five standing cats only, "we will reward you with eight more lives, so that you may lead your Clans for many moons to come."

_The first usage of Clan,_ I thought happily.

The next to speak was a slender tortoiseshell, who I recalled was named Tail. She and a few other cats had seceded from Hazel's group, but had decided not to rejoin Josie.

Tail tilted her head and spoke softly, eyes shining. "We will watch over you from Silverpelt," she pledged. She lifted her eyes to the starry night sky above her. The feeling of importance still buzzed in the air around me. I felt electrified, the tiredness from the battle and the pain from my wounds momentarily forgotten.

"We will visit you in your dreams," Tail continued, "and guide you on your journeys."

"Once a month," Ice said, voice gravelly, "at the full moon, you will gather together here, beneath the four great oak trees, for a night of truce."

I looked at the ground. _How will these cats ever clean up the corpses and the blood? _I wondered.

"And if blood is spilled on those nights," Ice continued, echoing my thoughts, "you will know we are angry."

"You will be warriors!" Thorn yowled. My fur was almost standing on end from the charge of this moment.

Sky, Thunder, River, Wind, and I bowed our heads solemnly. Would no one challenge our claim to power?

_Of course not,_ I scolded myself. _This is predestined._

"From now on, you will live by a warrior code developed over the ages," Thorn mewed solemnly. "Your hearts will be filled with courage and nobility, and if you must fight—" here she paused, taking a moment to look into each of the future leader's eyes "—it will be not for greed, but for honor and justice."

There was a long silence. Then, Thunder—I had stopped calling him Ryan by now—nodded his head. "This is wise advice," he said in that deep voice of his. "I believe we can choose our territories and lay down borders fairly, in peace."

"Agreed," I murmured. I was echoed by my friends and fellow leaders-to-be.

The spirits lifted their heads to the heavens. Then they glowed with a blinding starry light, and vanished.

The age of the warrior cats had begun!


	17. Chapter 17

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

* * *

Once the spirits had vanished, we were left with the mess of the dead and the living cats staring at us in awe. I smiled tiredly, all my exhaustion and pain washing over me again. All I wanted to do was crawl into my nest and sleep, after, of course, I got my wounds treated.

I groaned. Who would be the medicine cat for this hoard of injured cats? There was only one qualified cat in the entire forest, and that was Sky!

Somehow I managed to stumble my way up to the Great Rock. The other founders struggled up on top of it beside me. We had a short conference.

"Who's going to be the medicine cat for this mess?" I asked.

Sky groaned. "I'll do it," he grumbled. "But I'm going to need a _lot_ of help," he warned.

"We'll get the apprent—" I stopped in the middle of my sentence and sighed. "Right. No apprentices yet."

Thunder yawned. "I'm so tired," he murmured. "And I hate not being invincible anymore."

The scornful voice that was now inside me whispered, _Yeah, well, the rest of us don't have magic powers!_

Sky shot him a glare. "You think I like losing my power too? I can't tell what any of you are thinking! I don't know how to judge your emotions!"

"That's a good thing," Wind said bluntly. "We don't want you in our minds."

I couldn't help but agree with her.

I could feel the distance between us five already. Our responsibilities were quickly taking over. _Well, so what?_ my new inner voice growled. _It's not like you were particularly close to any of your friends in other Clans _last_ time._

I shook aside my doubts and payed attention to the discussion. We eventually agreed to meet here at the next full moon to decide on firm borders. But first, we all settled, we needed to get cats in our Clans.

The mass of injured cats below us was growing restless. River was the first to speak to them.

"Cats of the forest," he began, his voice shaking slightly. "We have been designated the leaders by our ancestors. Does anyone wish to challenge us?"

There were a few sideways glances and shifty looks, but no one did anything. We were accepted by the cats of the forest.

Wind was next to address the crowd. "We have heard the words of the dead," she said in a loud voice. "They have designated us warriors. We have spoken together and decided a few basic things. Since there are five leaders and soon to be five groups, we must have definite boundaries to avoid the disaster that happened tonight. Each group will be called a Clan. For example, my Clan will be known as Wind's Clan." She paused. "Maybe WindClan would be better instead of Wind's Clan. It flows better."

I smiled, delighted at how she made that decision seem natural, almost a coincidence.

"Mine will be known as SkyClan, then," Sky said decidedly. He cleared his throat, then continued, "We have decided that the main body of our Clans will be called warriors."

Some cat in the crowd spat on the ground. I vaguely recognized him as one of Silver's most loyal warriors. "You're just stealin' this from SilverClan! I'll never submit to you fools, I'm loyal only to Silver!"

I sprang down from the rock and landed in front of him. My black pelt bristled in anger. "I was the one who killed Silver, you worthless piece of foxdung," I snarled in his face. "She was a cruel master, and we are only modifying her one good idea, the formation of a Clan and a body of warriors. She killed the elderly, kept slaves, and mistreated anycat brave enough to stand up to her tyranny." I was tempted to slash his belly open and make him plead for mercy, but I think him recognizing that I, one of the future leaders of the forest, was one of Silver's former slaves, was enough to set him shaking in his fur, nevermind what I had said to him.

I heaved myself back onto the rock and watched as the cats in the crowd inched away from the disgraced tom and looked up at me with either admiration or fear. I felt uncomfortable, but realized it was my time to speak.

"As Sky was saying, the fighting cats in our Clans will be called warriors. The rest of the cats will be the already addressed positions of queens, kits, elders, etc." I paused, collecting my thoughts. "We have adopted this system to avoid confusion about ranks between Clans. The next and last new rank will be apprentice. An apprentice will train under a warrior, learning how to hunt and fight. When they are deemed worthy enough, they will become a warrior."

"We have also decided that we need something to tell us apart from the rest of the cats in the forest, such as loners without allegiance to a group or Clan," Thunder rumbled. "To make Clan cats stand out, we have decided to change the name, slightly, of each cat who decides to join our groups. We will add a second name combined with the first, to set apart a noble Clan cat from a common rogue."

There was a murmur of unhappiness at this, but it was a custom that must be set in practice, as Thunder and the rest well knew. I could tell that it would not go down well.

I remembered something else that must be added to this speech on the formation of a Clan. "Many cats may wish to join our Clans when they find out about them. I mean no offense to any leader or member of a former group or gang, but the old groups of cats in the forest were distrustful and disorganized. Hopefully, with organization will come peace, and we must welcome new recruits." I looked sorrowfully at the bodies of the dead below. "After tonight's losses, we will need fresh blood."

There were murmurs of agreement and a few sobs. I felt my heart tearing as I looked down at the dead below. Half the cats in the forest must have been killed!

"How will we divide into these Clans?" a cat in the crowd called out.

Wind lashed her tail from side to side. "Anycat who would like to follow me should go to the moors as soon as I leave." She swept her gaze across the hollow. "WindClan will be home to the fastest runners and the cats who love the open moors. You will know when we are your home."

"RiverClan are to be water cats—you will have to swim and eat fish to live with us," River called out in a loud voice.

"ThunderClan will only accept the bravest and the strongest," Thunder growled. "You must be willing to hunt through the deepest undergrowth to catch prey in our forest home."

Sky lifted his muzzle and called out, "The highest leapers and ones who love life between the open fields and the forest will live in SkyClan. We will be strong!"

"ShadowClan will be made up of the cleverest cats in the forest," I mewed, smiling. "We will hunt in the night and live the ways of our ancestors."

"Together," Sky yowled, "we will be the great Clans, the strongest forces in the forest!"

A cheer rose up from the crowd. I could see a new light in their eyes, a light full of hope and optimism.

_If only they knew how their descendants would turn out_, the cynical voice in my head muttered.

_Shut up_, I replied. _You're ruining the moment._

It was then that I realized that I was talking to myself. Not a good sign, especially for the leader of a Clan.

But I pushed my worries aside and leapt from the rock. "ShadowClan, to me!" I yowled as I ran to the corner of the clearing facing my new territory. A flood of cats raced toward me, yowling out, "Shadow! Shadow! Shadow!" I could see plenty of familiar faces. Most of Silver"Clan" was here, even Silver's loyals, although about half of them were missing—dead, I presumed. I didn't see the insulting tom, Dog, among them. He must be trying for a different Clan. I also saw a few unfamiliar faces—more switchers, I presumed.

As the other leaders separated their Clans from one another, I could see how many dead bodies were left in the clearing. It was an awe-inspiring amount. I would presume about 70 cats died that night.

I raced back up to the rock, something popping into my head.

"Cats of all Clans!" I yowled. It felt good to be the first to use that phrase. "There are many, many dead cats left here. What shall we do with them?"

River weaved his way up to the rock as well. "I propose we let their families deal with their bodies," he said in a smooth voice.

"I agree," Wind called from her position on the ground.

"And what of the injured?" I asked.

Sky leapt onto the rock next to me. "I was taught to heal by my mother."

_The irony is that it's true, not just a lie to avoid mentioning his mentor_, the voice in my head said snidely.

I ignored it, choosing to listen to Sky instead.

"I suggest that, with the help of many volunteers, I will set up a station for wound healing at this very spot," Sky called to the crowd. "The most injured will need to be seen to first."

There was a murmur of agreement. A few cats from each Clan called out that they would like to volunteer. Sky rounded them up, sent some to fetch herbs and others to collect the injured and find good places to heal.

It took him quite a while—until the evening of the next day, in fact—but eventually, an exhausted Sky and many of his helpers tended to the injuries of every surviving cat. The remaining cats, those fit enough to work before being healed, helped to bury the dead in the surrounding forest.

When the dirty work was done, the cats had finally figured out exactly which Clan they wanted to join and many tearful goodbyes were made. The new Clans left Fourtrees to have fun apart for the first time.

And I followed my new Clan to our shadowy home in the forest.


	18. Chapter 18

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

* * *

The next full moon I bounded up the rise before Fourtrees. Things had gone well in ShadowClan—I had named the warriors and apprentices, six rogues and one kittypet had joined, and things had been peaceful so far. I was apprehensive to actually return to Fourtrees, because I had already gone through the painful process of receiving nine lives. It wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. However, I knew that Wind, River, Thunder, and Sky would be anxious to become _actual_ leaders. I was the only one who really had background qualifications.

_Maybe this isn't the best idea_, the voice inside me said uneasily.

_Come on,_ I rebuked it. I had grown used to this nagging consciousness inside me. It was like all my doubts and fears and angers had grown a body and a voice and were trying to put me down. It was creepy and scary, but I had no choice but to live with it. I had yet to name it.

_I do have a name,_ the voice said unexpectedly. _My name is Shadow._

_No, my name is Shadow,_ I said, confused.

_Come on,_ the voice said sarcastically. _You don't really think that, do you? I am the _real_ Shadow. You're just Gingerstar. I'm the one whose destiny you stole._

_Come on,_ I said, trying to joke. _You're not serious._

_I'm deadly serious,_ Other Shadow said flatly. _But there's nothing I can do about it, so I'm going to ruin you from the inside out. And there's no way to get rid of me._

I gulped. _No way?_

_I _could_ leave and joint the destinies of the other leaders, if I wanted to,_ Other Shadow admitted. _They're just one of StarClan now. But I'm no wimp like them. I'm going to wreak vengeance on you._

_That's delightful,_ I muttered. Then I shoved Other Shadow into the deep recesses of my mind. I had other things to worry about, things more important than a vengeful spirit.

I bounded into the hollow. I smiled as I saw the other leaders already down there, watching the sun set. I ran up to them and purred.

"Well, this is it," I murmured. "After this, we're _really_ the leaders of our Clans!"

Sky looked down, but I saw the doubt and fear in his eyes before he shielded it from us. "Come on, Sky," I said brightly. "It's not _that_ bad!"

"I watched your ceremony," he mumbled. "I wouldn't say that. It looked really painful."

Wind and River shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, we read the books," River explained. "I know that nine lives is really helpful for a leader, but is it really worth it?"

Wind nodded uneasily. Thunder gave me a worried look.

"I'm not really supposed to talk about it," I said, trying to weasel my way out of this conversation.

Thunder gulped. I think he translated that as "It's really bad, I just don't want to make you worried" or something like that.

I sighed unhappily. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you." I inhaled. "It's not very comfortable. In fact, I think that this ceremony was one of the worst things that happened to me as a leader. But believe me, it's worth it. I wouldn't have survived the Dark Forest War without my lives, I died twice then."

This made everyone look nervous. "See, I told you I shouldn't have said anything," I muttered quietly.

The sun had gone down by now. Only a hint of purple showed on the horizon. It wasn't long before the stars came out. A wave of peace washed over me. StarClan was always watching over me. It would turn out all right.

_Then again, _last_ time you trusted StarClan you got sent here,_ Other Shadow said snidely.

_Shut up,_ I told her.

That was when the stars began to shine brighter than normal. The other cats, excepting Sky, who had watched my leader ceremony, gasped in wonder as the stars began to swirl down from the sky and form into the shining pelts of StarClan warriors.

As the ranks of StarClan formed, I felt the other leaders move closer to me. My heart beat faster, and I seriously considered not accepting the nine lives. I never thought I'd have to go through the ceremony once, let alone twice!

"Welcome, Leaders," the stars mewed in one clear voice. "Are you ready to receive the nine lives we have promised you?"

"Y-yes," stammered Wind.

"Um, uh, I—" River muttered. "Um, yes. Yes, yes I am!"

Sky took a deep breath before saying in one big rush, "Yes, I believe so."

"Yes," Thunder squeaked out uncharacteristically. Other Shadow snickered in the corner of my mind, but I paid no attention to her.

At last, everycat was looking at me expectantly. I wrestled with my doubts for a moment before raising my head high and mewing firmly, "Yes."

A dark brown tabby tom stepped forward. In a deep voice, he rumbled, "Wind!"

The she-cat padded forward nervously. The tom—Burr, I remembered from my days in pre-WindClan—touched his nose to her forehead. "With this life, I give you speed. Use it to escape your swiftest enemies and to hunt prey across the forests."

Wind flinched backwards slightly. I couldn't see her eyes from here, but I knew she was in a great amount of pain. Still, speed didn't seem like a hugely painful life.

_She can't wait 'til she gets protection or something,_ Other Shadow snarled.

Burr stepped back and a gray tabby she-cat replaced him. She was one of Hazel's friends, a deserter. Apparently she had been forgiven if she was to be giving Wind her second life.

"With this life," the she-cat mewed, "I give you tireless energy. Use it when your Clan needs you to keep going on."

Wind straightened, as if electrified. The tabby walked back to StarClan's ranks, to be replaced by... Path? Path was one of Sparrow's loyals that fought with Wind when we first met him! How on earth did she get to be one of Wind's life-givers‽

Nonetheless, Path touched her nose to Wind's forehead, murmuring, "With this life I give you firmness of heart. Use it when you doubt your choices."

Wind crumpled to the ground. I watched in horror as the life coursed through her. When Path walked away, Wind let out a faint moan as she stumbled to her feet.

More lives came and went. Wind received the gift of mentoring from a tom I remembered was called Oak, patience from another tom named Blue, and intelligence from a she-cat known as Tabby. It was on her seventh life when I saw Storm walk out of the crowd toward her.

I widened my eyes. "No!" I whispered. Not Storm! He had been on the patrol that killed Sparrow. He was a wise old cat and the loving mate of Midnight, one of my friends, and Thorn's father. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed his death before now!

"With this life, I give you compassion," he whispered to Wind. "Use it when you have trouble sympathizing with those in need of comfort."

Wind sighed slowly, then her eyes filled with silent tears of pity. She looked understanding, but tormented with the ghosts of every time she could have been compassionate but she hadn't.

Then Storm walked back, to be replaced by Thorn.

I felt another silent sob rise in my throat. Oh, Thorn, why did you have to die?

"With this life, I give you courage," she growled kindly. I smiled. Courage was one thing Thorn had never lacked. "Use it to stand up for what is right."

I looked away as Wind flinched in pain. I looked around at the shocked and scared faces of my companions as they realized that they would have to go through this too.

_Well, at least _they_ don't have to do it _twice_, _I grumbled to myself. I was reasonably sure that this was my mutterings this time, not Other Shadow trying to put me down. She had been uncharacteristically quiet during the ceremony.

Finally, Thorn walked away. From the crowd, a lithe chocolatey-brown she-cat with amber eyes and sharp features picked her way toward Wind. I gasped. This cat looked _exactly _like Wind!

Wind and the other leaders were as confused as I was. "Who—who are you?" Wind stammered out weakly.

"I am the Other Wind," the she-cat whispered faintly. It was only when I compared Wind to Other Wind that I realized Other Wind was paler than her living counterpart. She was almost transparent. The Other Destinies, I realized, were only possibilities. We were the real deal, so already the Others began to fade away out of memory.

"I am what could have been, if you had not come along." Other Wind sighed. "But I forgive you, it is not your fault that you have come." She straightened. "With this life I give you humility," she mewed loud and clear, touching her nose to Wind's forehead. "Use it well—an arrogant leader is a bad leader."

Wind crouched down low to the ground, opening her mouth to let out a mew of pain that never came. At last it was over. She rose to her feet unsteadily and looked around as the cats of StarClan chanted her name. "Wind!" they exclaimed. "Wind! Wind! Wind!"

Thunder, Sky, River, and I joined in the cheering. Wind looked up and trotted back to us, eyes shining.

"See, that wasn't bad, was it?" I whispered.

Wind glared at me. "No, it wasn't bad. It was terrible!"

"At least you don't have to do it twice," I snapped.

Then we went silent as a creamy white she-cat stepped forward and called out, "River!"

River padded forward apprehensively. "With this life," the creamy she-cat murmured, "I give you hope."

I nodded. That had been my first life, from Longtail.

"Use it when everything seems dark, and remember that it will always be with you."

River sighed happily. This was an easy life. I overheard Wind grumble to herself quietly, "Why didn't I get any easy ones?"

I smiled softly.

River's lives were softer and less painful than Wind's all the way through, but I still felt bad for him when one of the other group leaders who had died in the battle, a fiery tom that I recalled being named Bounce, gave him the life of temper. River fluffed out his fur and clenched his claws into the ground. It was almost comical, until I caught a glimpse of the pain and fury on his face.

In a short list, he received gifts like friendship, observation, patience, honesty, and strength. Trout gave him mentoring as his eighth life, then a silky-furred silvery tom with sharp green eyes and a small muzzle trotted up to River. I recognized him as, of course, Other River.

"I am the Other River," the tom mewed, confirming my assumption. "I am the ghost of another possibility. I forgive you, and I give you the life of steadfastness. Use it to keep your decisions the same and unchanging."

River growled and clenched the ground, fighting back the pain. Then it was done. River had received all nine of his lives. I began to panic. Would I be next?

"River!" the cats in the clearing yowled. "River! River! River!"

The noise settled down and a blue-gray she-cat stepped forward. "Sky!" she called out.

Sky's fur stood on end and his shone with fear as he padded forward slowly. Then he gulped, smoothed his fur, and tried to appear confident as the she-cat touched her nose to his forehead.

"With this life I give you bravery," she mewed. "Use it to overcome your fears."

Sky flinched widened his eyes as the life coursed through him. And this was only the beginning.

I watched as he received his eight other lives. He didn't have it as easy as River. Among his gifts, there were some softer ones, such as healing, humor, strength and sharpness of tongue. But there were also some that made me wince, either from experience or pity: protection, compassion, and decision.

At last, his final life approached. The life-giver was, of course, a small gray-and-white tom with a long tail and clear blue eyes. Other Sky.

"I am the Other Sky," said the tom. "Once more, I am but a Destiny of what could have been. I could have been one of the great founders, remembered by all—"

I winced, remembering SkyClan's fate.

"—but you came along and changed the fate of everyone." Sky looked angry. "I could have had it all, Sky! I could have had it all," he mewed sadly. Then his expression changed to wistful. "Nevermind. This is the way things happened. I forgive you, New Sky." Then he pressed his muzzle to Sky's forehead and said firmly, "With this life, I give foresight. Use it to avoid disaster."

Sky straightened, turned his head upward, and let the life course through him as he stared into the stars. In a few seconds more, he had all the nine lives of a leader. He stepped back as the cats cheered his name: "Sky! Sky! Sky! Sky!"

As everycat reassembled, Thunder pressed himself against me. "I miss you," he whispered. "We never got a proper goodbye before."

I burrowed my muzzle in his ginger fur. "I miss you too," I murmured. "Let this be our goodbye."

A brown tom speckled with black spots stepped forward and yowled out, "Thunder!"

Thunder pulled away from me. "I love you," he muttered as he walked away.

"I love you too," I whispered. "Good luck!"

Apparently StarClan was saving me for last. I was just glad that Other Shadow was keeping quiet in my head and had not made any snide remarks about me and Thunder.

"With this life I give you courage," the tom mewed. "Use it well in the defense of your Clan."

I looked away, unable to watch as Thunder received the lives of strength, compassion, understanding, discernment, emotion, and forgiveness. Wind let me press my face into her fur as the ceremony went on.

It was only when I heard Storm's familiar voice that I looked up. Thunder was panting on the ground, his huge body shaking. I inhaled slowly, telling myself that it was almost over. It didn't help that I knew I was next.

"With this life," Storm called out, "I give you faith."

I moaned quietly. Firestar had given me this as my last life so I knew what was coming.

"Use it when you or your Clan have any doubts," Storm finished. Then it began. Thunder growled and clutched the ground to keep himself upright. I saw Sky looking at his brother in horror. I let out a sob and buried my face in Wind's fur again. At least I knew he would come out of this alive, and stronger than before, but it hurt to see my mate in pain.

Then Storm padded away, to be replaced by Other Thunder. I watched as the large ginger-and-white tom padded up to the shaking Thunder, amber eyes unreadable slits. "I am the Other Thunder," he rumbled in his low voice. "You have snatched my destiny out of my claws, and for this admire your audacity. To have stolen such a precious thing as this, you are a great hunter and I respect and forgive you because of that." He straightened, mirroring his other self, and said loudly, "With this life I give you pride."

I nodded. This life had been given to me by Bluestar. It was not very painful. I could watch this one.

"Use it when your Clan doubts itself," Other Thunder growled. "New" Thunder straightened, and a slow smile spread across his face. I did likewise when I realized that his trials were over.

It vanished when I realized mine were next.

"Thunder! Thunder!" the cats in the hollow called to the moon. "Thunder! Thunder!"

Thunder returned to where we were standing. I smiled at him, then tensed as Fire, one of Silver's two deputies called my name: "Shadow!"

I walked slowly down to the mass of StarClan cats, panic rising in my chest. I wasn't ready for this! I would never be ready to do this again!

Fire, bright ginger she-cat with green eyes, had mocked me when I was a slave and I had a great deal of resentment for her. However, now she smiled gently at me. "Are you ready?" she asked quietly. "I'm sorry for what I did to you before."

She looked so sincere. "It's behind us now," I murmured. "And I'm ready as I'll ever be."

"Then let us begin." She straightened and lifted her head. Suddenly her voice became rich and formal. "With this life, I give you humor."

A wave of relief washed over me. Mousefur had given me this life before, and it was very nice. I let my guard down carefully as Fire continued, "Use it to lighten your surroundings even in the darkest of times."

I felt like bursting into laughter the moment she finished speaking. I shook my shoulders in amusement as I shared everything funny that had ever happened to me with Fire, and all the amusements in her life were shared with me. There were too many to describe. It was a "you'd-only-get-it-if-you-were-there" kind of moment.

As she walked back into the ranks of our starry ancestors, I braced myself for something not so easy. I was right to do so: Ice, one of Silver's warriors, and one of the speakers after the battle was to give me my second life. He was a hard tom, and no doubt would give me a hard virtue to receive.

The thin white tom mewed firmly, "With this life I give you courage. Use it to overcome your fears and stand for what is right."

I felt the heat of battle around me. This was similar to the life Blackstar had given me: a fight in which I was fearless and brave, even if I ended with someone's teeth in my throat. The last moments of Ice's life, of course. I was in a great amount of pain, invisible wounds across my pelt and all this energy coursing through me gave me quite a thrill. But the feeling was fantastic, I wish I could feel that courageous all the time.

As Ice retreated, a cream-colored she-cat—her name was Dawn, I recalled—picked her way through the crowd. When she arrived in front of me, I braced myself for something bad. I hadn't known her very well at all, so I couldn't judge which kind of life she would give me.

Thankfully it wasn't a hard one. "With this life I give you patience." Another one already given to me, by Spottedleaf the first time. "Use it to keep your Clan together."

I sighed as peace and surety coursed through me. If only all of my lives could be this easy to receive! No matter, everything would work out in the end. Patience was my friend.

Dawn walked away, to be replaced by a surly, old-looking tom called Frog who would have been one of Silver's next elder victims if Silver"Clan" had survived. His gray-brown pelt was ragged and unkempt, but a smile was on his face. "With this life, I give you hope," he growled with a voice as gravely as rocks. Once more, an easy life I had had before. It was my first life last time, gifted to me by Longtail.

"It will be with you always, so use it whenever things look bleak."

I was lost in a dark forest. Everything around me was dark and uncertain, until_ there_! A light! I dashed toward it, excitement rising in my heart. This was what hope felt like!

Frog melted back into the crowd and a golden-brown tom—Gold, I think his name was—walked forward. He pressed his nose to my forehead, a cold and fiery feeling all at once, and whispered, "With this life I give you strength."

Too late, I braced myself for the pain I knew was coming. This was a new life for me. I cried out in pain as the life coursed through me. I felt my muscles grow stronger and energy buoy me up, but oh how it hurt! It was forcing its way through my body, setting fire to my nerves and muscles. I wanted to cry out in pain, but an invisible force glued my lips together.

I heard loud feet try to reach me—probably Thunder—and other cats crying out as they tried to restrain him. As I stumbled to my feet when the pain left, I moaned, "No, no, I'm fine!" but I don't know if he heard. At any rate, everything calmed down enough for another cat to come forward. I recognized her as another one of the slaves—5, that was it.

She was quite pretty now that she was all cleaned up. She was a young she-cat, well, younger than I was, with a mostly white pelt with gray splotches here and there.

"5?" I asked before she pressed her nose to my forehead.

She smiled almost unnoticeably. "Call me Osprey," she murmured, then began.

"With this life, I give you cunning," Osprey mewed. "Use it when every other cat has run out of ideas."

A thousand great ideas popped into my head. I thought of a million ways to get back at so-and-so, a hundred plans to get to the top. Every possible option was a good option! There was always a Plan B, even a Plan Z!

Osprey retreated, to be replaced by the former slave I recognized as 15, the one after me. I had convinced him to confide in me his name, Hail, before encouraging to him to forget it until Silver was dead or out of power.

"With this life I give you pride," Hail mewed loudly for all to hear. "Use it when your Clan needs you most."

Confidence flowed through my body, so strong it ached. I growled, clenching my teeth to try and repress the strength of the surety within me. My Clan was better than the rest, and we didn't need to prove it—we had all we needed.

I gasped as Hail retreated. Only two lives left, and I felt as if I would overflow with energy, and not a good kind of energy too—an overdose, so much it made me sleepy.

Then Thorn appeared from the crowd. I let out a strangled sob, unable to control my erratic and unstable feelings at this point.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered sadly. "Thorn, I'm so sorry."

Thorn just smiled. "With this life I give you friendship," she mewed gruffly. "Use it to be the best companion you can be."

I drank in this life. It hurt, but only a little. I felt peace, joy, happiness, and forgiveness all at once. I missed Thorn so much... As much as she and Wind had been friends, my companion was not a moor cat and would have probably switched over to ShadowClan or ThunderClan had she survived. I wish I knew who had killed her, and I wouldn't rest until they knew what I thought of them.

Images flashed before my eyes—Thorn as a kit, then apprentice age, lots of battles she had fought in, how Sparrow mistreated her and her family, the satisfaction of finally getting back at him. I saw through her eyes her life with Josie as leader and becoming friends with me and everything she ever did. Then the battle came, and I watched as she took down enemy after enemy in a battle frenzy. Then my vision went black as someone pounced on her from behind. All I saw was a glimpse of dark fur that could have been any color from muddy yellow to black in the proper light. My quest to get revenge on Thorn's killer would have to wait.

Then it was over. Thorn stepped away, smiling, and I braced myself for my ninth and final life. All the other last lives had been given by the Other Leader, but Other Shadow hadn't left my head... or maybe she had. But why would she be allowed to give me my last life if she had sworn to get revenge on me?

Once I had assured myself someone else would be giving me my last life, I saw a fluffy-furred black she-cat with holly-green eyes and a sickeningly fake smile weave her way through the ancestors. My heart sank. Didn't StarClan know that Other Shadow was up to no good?

"I am the Other Shadow," she purred venomously. "You stole my destiny as leader of the greatest Clan in the forest, my friend. I am not like the others, weak and forgiving. I will _never_ forgive you, _New_ Shadow," she spat.

Around me, a shocked murmur began. I heard feet run toward me, and StarClan begin to close around me and Other Shadow, but it was too late. Other Shadow leaned down, pressed her nose against my forehead and hissed, "With this life, I give you vengeance! Use it to wreak havoc on your enemies and bathe the forest in blood, use it to begin a legacy of bloodshed and darkness, one that will begin with _you_, use it to be remembered as the worst leader in the history of the Clans!"

I dropped down low to the ground as Other Shadow grew paler and paler. I felt her return to my brain, as all the pain that I had ever experienced flowed through my body fresh as ever. I let out a screech of pain, and faintly around me I heard the other leaders calling my name, Thunder's voice fraught with fear and anger. I heard StarClan's shocked murmurs about what had happened and whether it was a good idea for me to still be leader.

But that was all in the background. All my body was focused on the terrible, terrible pain I was going through, anger and hatred dominating my thoughts. It seemed to last forever, this torment, and louder than any of the commotion around me was the pleased, evil laughter of Other Shadow in my head, echoing around my brain and filling myself with even more thoughts of revenge and war and blood.

And then the pain receded and the laughing stopped. I sighed, finally feeling whole again. Everyone was crowded around me in concern. "I'm... I'm all right..." I mumbled as Thunder and Wind helped me to my paws and the starry cats around me chanted "Shadow! Shadow! Shadow! Shadow!"

"I thought I was going to lose you," Thunder whispered.

"Well, now I have nine lives," I murmured back. "And we'll be together in StarClan if something... happens."

Then StarClan formed a ring around us five. In one clear voice, they mewed, "We hail you as leaders of the forest, Wind, River, Sky, Thunder and Shadow! Your old lives are no more, and you now have the nine lives of a leader. StarClan grants you the guardianship of your Clans. Defend them well; care for their young and old; honor your ancestors and what is right by nature; live each life with pride and dignity."

The pain gone, I felt stronger and better than ever as StarClan called our names. In the corner of my mind, Other Shadow was still laughing, although much more quiet than before, so quiet I almost forgot about her in the exhilaration of the moment.

Then the sun rose, StarClan returned to the skies, and the we, the leaders and founders of our Clans, said our last goodbyes.

When that was through, I turned and walked back home, ready to go back to my Clan. And when I returned to the excited voices of my Clanmates, I couldn't help but smile. So what? Maybe Other Shadow had given me the life of vengeance, but then again, maybe I could use that to my advantage. And maybe one day I could say truthfully, "Welcome to ShadowClan, my new home. Welcome to the most feared Clan in the forest."


	19. Chapter 19

**CHAPTER NINETEEN**

* * *

_Roughly three years after the nine lives ceremony..._

I won't waste time and space to explain everything I did for the next three years. Clan life happened, kits were born, battles were lost and won, the elderly died, but the Clan remained strong. Life was mostly uninteresting.

That was, until I had the dream.

* * *

It had been a particularly long day. There had been a spot of trouble with a WindClan patrol on the border and a litter of kits had been born. I was relieved to crash in my nest in the leader's den.

I opened my eyes to the middle of ShadowClan territory and groaned. Great, a dream. What I needed now was rest, not some haunting prophecy.

Out of the forest stepped... Other Shadow. Oh dear, I was in trouble now. She never did this, mostly just kept to heckling me from inside my own head. If she was wanting to talk to me face to face, it was going to be bad.

"What do you want?" I growled.

She smirked. "I have some... news for you, New Shadow." That was all she ever called me, New Shadow. Never plain old Shadow, only New Shadow, as if she were the Old Shadow, the _right_ Shadow. It drove me crazy, but after a week or so of her calling me that I gave up trying to make her stop. It was fruitless and exhausting and only made her feel better.

"What do you want?" I repeated.

She gave me a sly, sidelong look. "I've known for a while," she purred with menace, "that you aren't from this time. Really, living in your mind, it wasn't hard. All I had to do was poke around in your memory to realize, for one, that you're actually a _Twoleg_—" she spat the word "—and for another, you're a time-traveler. How bizarre! I never thought I would meet a time-traveling shape-shifting Twoleg! I knew that StarClan was desperate for help, but but I didn't expect them to have to go reaching through time to find it."

Then she chuckled. "Then, of course, with a little more digging, I realized that New Thunder here was your lovey. And that he was not only a time-traveling shape-shifter, he's also _invincible!_"

"Not anymore," I muttered, looking down at the ground.

Other Shadow ignored me. "And so's his brother, New Sky!" She cackled in delight. "Oh, if only StarClan found out about _this_..."

"I'm sure they already know," I shot back. "After all, I didn't _ask_ to be thrown here. I would much rather have stayed human after my _last_ little excursion and let you be."

Other Shadow blinked, surprised. "Really?" she asked, voice soft and sincere for a moment.

"Of course," I grumbled. "I wasn't born a cat and it's not like I _want_ my life to be complicated! I mean, at first, a bit of adventure was refreshing, but ever since I got back, I never once _really_ wanted to be in a book. My life is—excuse me, _was_—good enough for me after my taste of excitement was over. I mean, it's all much more interesting and you feel so much more important, but I'd rather be safe and sound with my own little, unimportant problems. All I wanted was my Lionblaze back, preferably as a human, and to live a happy little life in my own world," I finished firmly. "StarClan threw me back to the Clans—and when I say back, I mean _back_—and I had no choice but to come. There's no way out until we're all dead." I looked down at my paws. "And I know that at least Sky and Thunder are glad to be cats again, and maybe Wind and River as well."

Other Shadow had been quiet for all of this. She seemed confused. "I thought it was your own doing, coming here," she said softly.

"Well, it wasn't," I confirmed.

She seemed troubled. "I'm not sure how I feel," she confessed, looking at the ground. "You stole my destiny, but you didn't mean to? How can I get revenge properly when it's revenge on the innocent?" She began to pace back and forth.

I was excited. For once, I had the upper paw! Other Shadow was the one confused, not me!

Eventually, after a couple of minutes of muttering to herself, Other Shadow stopped and looked up. "All right," she finished. "I... I forgive you. Because it wasn't your fault," she added hastily. "If it was, I would relish what I'm about to say. Nonetheless..."

She coughed, and I became nervous again. Maybe Other Shadow didn't hate me anymore, but what she had done—giving me the life of vengeance was only the beginning of what she had made me do and done to me in the time between what I was experiencing now and when I became leader—was irreparable. And I could tell she was about to make it worse.

"Maybe you should sit down," she advised kindly.

I gave her an odd look.

"What?" she asked defensively. "I'm trying to be nice now! Okay?"

"Okay..." I mewed quietly. I sat down.

Other Shadow gave me an awkward smile. "Well, okay," she mumbled. "Now that I'm actually going to say it, I don't know how to." She coughed again, then cleared her throat, opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again. Then she began.

"So, your lovey is Lionblaze?" she asked shortly.

"Yes," I replied cautiously. "Is this a problem?"

Other Shadow took a deep breath and continued. "I've been doing some digging around, in StarClan and in your mind."

"Not unusual for you," I muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Ahem, anyway, I've been looking around. And I found this out... I can't find a way to break it to you easily, so I'm just going to say it: your lovey Lionblaze is descended from himself," Other Shadow said quickly.

I stared at her for a moment, not understanding. Then I realized what she was saying: Thunder mated with a she-cat, had a kit, and that kit had another kit, etc, etc, etc, down to Sandstorm, who mated with Firestar and had Leafpool, who mated with Crowfeather and had Lionblaze.

At first, I was blown away by how plain _weird_ it was that Lionblaze was descended from... himself. And then I realized that Jayfeather was also descended from Lionblaze. Of course, then I realized that the kits Wind had had recently with Gorsefur (yes, the dreamy apprentice-age cat I had met in the moors) were also Lionblaze and Jayfeather's ancestors, as I read in one of the field guides that Crowfeather, their father, was a descendant of Wind. In an odd way, I suppose someone could feasibly pair Thunder with Wind, but anyone who did would find me very displeased with them. Even River's mate, Treeheart, had gifted him with a litter not too long after the formation of the Clans, although I didn't think that they were the ancestors of my mate.

Then it hit me: Other Shadow had wanted me to know this because this meant Thunder was going to have to cheat on me. I slitted my eyes, anger boiling in my chest.

"Does this mean he's going to cheat on me?" I spat out.

Other Shadow's eyes flew upward in surprise. "Oh! No! Um, at least that's not the conclusion I came to!"

I calmed down. There was another way? But how?

"No, I thought of something else, something preferable for you to him cheating on you," Other Shadow explained. "Still, knowing your personality, you aren't going to be pleased with the solution that I've come up with."

I narrowed my eyes, still suspicious and confused. The situation was now completely out of my control, but I had a feeling Other Shadow was as lost as I was, if for a different reason. Slowly, I began to put two and two together and, at first, denied the obvious. It wasn't until Other Shadow confirmed my suspicions that I finally accepted it, with difficulty.

"I'm sorry, Ne—Shadow," Other Shadow said quietly, "I know you never wanted to have kits, but if your Lionblaze is to exist in your time, this has to happen."

I understood now why she had asked me to sit down. This was a lot to take in. And how would Thunder take this? I glared at the ground, not able to blame Other Shadow.

"Will you at least get out of my head now?" I growled.

Other Shadow hung her head. "Yes, I suppose..." she murmured. "I have no reason to stay." She paused. "I really am sorry, you know. I thought it was your fault."

"Just leave me alone," I whispered. "I never want to see you or hear you ever again."

I heard Other Shadow's footsteps as she walked away and out of my life. I didn't care about her anymore as long as she stayed out of my life from now on.

Then I became focused on the problem at hand. It's not like any of my classmates had had any qualms about getting together with each other and normal cats from the Clans when we were cats. Quite a few of them had had kits as well. River's mate had had kits a long time ago, and Wind had recently taken a leave from being leader to care for her kits. Having kits, or kids as a human, had just never appealed to me. I never wanted to have a bunch of whining brats clinging onto me for every need, however cute they were.

I couldn't tell Thunder about this conversation, not ever. He would never be believe me, and even if he did... the fact that I had been pretty much possessed would freak him out even before he learned about his ancestry. But I... I had to... How would I ever convince him?

With a sinking heart, I felt the sun rising on my sleeping body and began to regain consciousness. This would be a problem for tonight, not today. I made up my mind: I would have to visit Thunder tonight, to talk to him. I couldn't guess what I would tell him, if I would tell him anything at all, but I would visit him tonight. StarClan willing, everything would work itself out.

Of course, StarClan has never been too concerned about what _I_ wanted...


	20. Chapter 20

**CHAPTER TWENTY**

* * *

The next night, I slipped through the grass in ThunderClan territory. The boundaries were still shaky, so we had to be careful and forgiving with intruders. However, I had no excuses being this close to the ThunderClan camp. I would be in hot water if I got caught. The thing was, I wanted to be found, but by the right cat.

I left a few signs of my presence outside the camp. My scent had been carefully masked before I risked this excursion, but Thunder knew me very well. He would recognize my scent, but none of his warriors would.

I crept away to hide beneath a bush a ways away from the camp and settled down to wait.

* * *

"Shadow?" a startled voice asked from behind me.

I jumped in surprise. "Thunder!"

The large ginger tom was indeed Thunder. He looked surprised and a little angry at seeing me in his territory. I gave him my best false smile and said, "Don't worry, I..."

I trailed off, unsure on how to finish that sentence. I was going to say "Don't worry, I can explain", but I couldn't, not really. I had no explanation.

"This better be good, Shadow," he growled. "I thought we promised not to meet each other."

I hung my head in shame. "I'm sorry, Thunder," I murmured. "I don't have a believable explanation."

"Then leave," he said shortly.

I gave him my most pitiful, sad look. He shook his head and and gave me a quiet hiss. "That look is not becoming of you, Shadow. Stop it."

I did. I'm sure I looked stupid. "I'm sorry, Thunder, it's just... I've missed you. Surely one night won't hurt anything?"

Thunder looked away, and I felt bad. What if one night was not okay? Either way this night could turn out, one of us would be unhappy. Both of us would be unhappy, in fact. But then why did he turn to me with guilt in his eyes and murmur under his breath, "I've missed you too, Shadow. But we both know that it won't work in this life. Just wait until we go back to your world, then I'm all yours."

I gave him a long, sincerely sad look. I wasn't lying when I told him I missed him. I _did_ miss him, but under normal circumstances, I would have waited until this was over. Unfortunately, it was not over, and I needed this to happen.

Thunder let out a long sigh. "All right," he relented. "One night."

* * *

StarClan must have been on my side—or more likely _their_ side, since I was not at all happy with this arrangement of things—that night, because I did not have to meet Thunder in the middle of the night again.

It didn't take me long to realize the inevitable. To avoid pesky questions, as I did _not_ want to reveal who the father of my kits was, as soon as I began to show signs of expecting kits, I came up with some excuse to leave—alone. My excuse was simple: at the last Gathering, I had received word from Wind that my mother, a rogue who had declined my offer for her to join ShadowClan, was dying in her home right outside WindClan's territory. She was asking for my company in the last few weeks of her life. I was leaving my deputy, Adderclaw, in charge for a month or so.

My Clan didn't like it, but they grudgingly left me leave. I _was_ leader, after all, and I could go on a journey if I needed to.

I hid out beyond the WindClan border. I had carefully masked my scent as I moved through hostile territory, but if anyone had found me, I could have said that I was visiting the Moonstone. As soon as the stone had been discovered and medicine cats been appointed, we leaders had decided it was neutral territory and that those seeking guidance from StarClan could move freely across WindClan territory for the sole purpose of visiting the Moonstone. If WindClan became dubious of the trespassing cat's notions, they were able to escort the cat to Highstones themselves, just to make sure.

I grew rounder every day. I couldn't tell how many kits I was expecting, but it seemed to be at least three. I didn't know how I was going to deal with these kits. I supposed I could have stayed in ShadowClan—there was only common sense to guide these prehistoric warriors, nothing like the warrior code. It was not strictly wrong to have a mate in another Clan, at least not yet. But it still felt wrong, and I knew my Clan would disapprove.

Besides, I couldn't care for these kits. I would have to give them to ThunderClan to raise. While that thought hurt, I knew in my heart of hearts it was the best choice for everyone. Let the kits be raised in ThunderClan by some ThunderClan queen and let them know their father. They would have a home and would actually be able to get to know their foster mother. I had plans for after I gave up these kits—plans that involved fighting and battles. I would be far too busy to care for kits.

Despite all my excuses, I still felt terrible when I thought about giving them away.

* * *

It was late one evening when the kits finally came. I won't burden you with details of exactly how it went, but rest assured that it was not fun. You might notice that I haven't been really been going into detail about anything recently, but it's painfully obvious why. It's awkward, I wish it hadn't been necessary, and I don't enjoy reliving it.

I had four kits. One, a skinny black tom, was weak and sickly, and I feared he wouldn't last the night. There was only one she-cat, a big, fuzzy, ginger colored she-cat with white paws. I smiled, seeing Thunder in her. The second tom was a tiny little fellow with gray-black fur and a curiously tawny splotch on his tail. Lastly, there was a wiry, downy-furred, dark gray tom.

As they nursed, I realized that I did not want these little kittens to leave my life. They were so cute, so small, so lovable, and they were a part of me now. How was I going to take them across the moor? I had to get back to my Clan as soon as possible. I had to give them to Thunder, and I couldn't wait for them to be able to walk. It would take too long.

I looked at the sickly tom sadly. At least I would only have to worry about three of them. The tom wouldn't live to see the sunrise. The other three, however, seemed strong enough.

I heard a rustle from behind me. Instinctively, I leapt to my feet, ignoring the mewls of protest from my nursing kits. A tawny-furred she-cat was looking at me with sympathy in her blue eyes.

"Who are you?" I hissed quietly.

She ignored me. "I've been watching you for weeks."

"Who are you?" I repeated adamantly.

She smiled. "I can see you need my help. My name is Tam."

"I'm Annie," I told her, feeling that she couldn't be trusted with my ShadowClan identity.

"I can help you, if you want me to," she offered. "I have a nice little den with my son, Riley. It's not far. Riley and I will help you carry them." She indicated my kits.

"And why should I trust you?" I hissed.

"Because you don't know the first thing about how to care for these kits, and I'm a mother too," she mewed quietly.

I looked down. I needed the help. Tam was right. I didn't know how to care for these kits. Maybe I could leave some of them with her.

"You and your son and I can only carry three between us," I pointed out, giving in.

"The sick one won't last anyway. It would be best just to kill him quickly and painlessly rather than have him suffer."

I drew myself up, enraged.

Tam gave me a cool look. "I've had five litters before," she said. "I've had to kill six of my kits because I didn't want them to suffer. It hurt, but it let the others survive."

I began to relax slowly. I knew that Tam was right, but I didn't want the kit to die all the same.

"If you want," Tam offered, "I'll do it for you. You're not the first she-cat I've given a haven to."

"No," I snapped.

She shrugged. "Suit yourself. You can probably carry two, though, it isn't all that hard."

I nodded shortly. "Thank you."

"I trust you would do the same," she responded simply as she padded away. I almost smiled. I had, on countless occasions, but I suppose the entire Clan sheltering and protecting a queen wasn't really the same thing. "I'll be right back," she assured. "I have to go fetch Riley."

When she returned, a youngish gray-pelted tom, about apprentice age, was trailing behind her.

"Riley, this is Annie," Tam introduced us. "Annie, this is my son Riley. He's the only one who survived my last litter."

Riley gave me a shy smile. I returned his with a weary one of my own. I was exhausted.

I bent down to pick up the sickly tom and the she-cat. As I pressed my nose to the little body of the tom, I let out a mewl of distress. He was already dead.

I felt the comforting swish of a tail on my back. "I'm sorry," murmured Tam. I nodded, and picked up his body to bury it.

Riley, Tam, and I carried my three remaining kits to Tam's den. It was in a dip in the ground, behind a bramble bush. It was comfortable enough for the three of us and my kits. I collapsed into the nest Riley showed me to and fell asleep as soon as I touched the bedding.


	21. Chapter 21

**CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE**

* * *

When I woke, it was light out. My three surviving kits were snuggled up against my fur. I purred quietly, a content mother.

I looked up to see Tam eating a mouse quietly in the corner of the den. Her son Riley was still asleep. I suddenly realized I was famished. "Uh, Tam?" I asked hesitantly.

She looked up and smiled. "Annie. Good morning. Are you hungry?"

I nodded. She padded over to me with a squirrel in her jaws. It wasn't very large, but it was something. I scarfed it down, then sighed, satisfied.

Tam sat down next to me. I gave her a wary look, then said finally, "Tam, I can't keep these kits."

"I can't keep them either, if that's what you're asking," she said warningly.

"No, I know where I want them to live. Their father is one of the Clan cats, in the forest, have you heard of them?" I asked.

"Yes, everyone around here has." She shrugged. "I didn't want to join. One of my sons in one of earlier litters did, though."

"As I was saying, I can't keep them. I'm very grateful for your help, but—" I broke off, coughed, then continued. "I would like to give them to their father. He's a good cat, and he would take them."

"And you need help carrying them," she said, finishing my thought. I nodded. "Very well," she said, shrugging. "I've been asked worse. As soon as they're fit to travel, in about a week, we can carry them to the forest. Have you named them?"

I had not, and I told her so. She recommended I let their father name them, so I wouldn't get too attached, but I wanted to name them. I gave it some thought.

* * *

A week later, as promised, Tam and Riley helped me carry my kits across the moor and into ThunderClan territory. We had difficulty dodging patrols, as I did _not_ want to be caught, so the journey took longer than necessary. It was late in the night when I reached the ThunderClan camp. I thanked Tam and Riley profusely, then they melted off into the darkness. I prayed to StarClan that they would make it safely back to their home, then boldly went up to the cat guarding the entrance to the camp.

I snuck up behind him on silent feet. "Hello," I whispered.

He whirled around, alarmed. "What? Where are you? Don't make me call more warriors!"

"I won't, don't worry," I assured him. "I just want to see Thunder. Ask him to come out here—alone."

"And how do I know you're not going to kill him?" he asked suspiciously.

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Do you have no brains in that head of yours?" I demanded. "Do you not think Thunder can hold his own in a fight with a scrawny little thing like me, at least until the noise sends your Clan running to the commotion?"

He seemed unsure. "Go," I ordered. "Be quick about it. I can't stay forever."

He grumbled, but reluctantly, he went to fetch Thunder.

When Thunder came walking out of the camp, he stopped and sniffed the air. "Come out, Shadow," he commanded. "I can smell you."

I slid out of the bush I was hiding in. "Hello, Thunder."

He glared at me. "I'm not doing this again," he proclaimed.

"That's not why I came," I snapped. "Wait right here."

I darted back into the bush and picked up one of the kits in my jaws. He mewled in protest, and I heard Thunder go very still. I carried him out and dumped him at his father's paws, then returned to the bush to fetch his brother and sister.

Thunder's eyes were wide with shock. "Shadow," he whispered, "what are these kits doing here?"

"Meeting their father," I said flatly.

He sat down heavily as the kits snuggled up against his warmth. He looked at me, his eyes bewildered. "You didn't tell me."

"Would you have believed me?" I asked.

"Of course!" he said, indignant. He paused, frowning. "So this is why you've been gone."

"Yes." I swallowed. "I'm sorry, Thunder, but I can't keep them. I've got my duties as a leader, and—"

"And I don't?" he protested.

"You won't have to nurse them," I said softly. "And ShadowClan will ask all sorts of questions..."

"Like my Clan won't?" he protested.

"You can say that their mother is a rogue."

"Why don't you take a leave like Wind did?"

"Thunder—please. I would be a terrible mother. I know you've always wanted kits. Well, here they are."

He looked down. "Fine, I'll take them." The look he gave me was both happy and sad—happy that we had kits and sad that we could not raise them together. "Do they have names?"

I straightened. Finally, I question I could answer. "The she-cat is called Thornkit, after Thorn, one of my WindClan friends who died," I murmured, gesturing to the kit in question. "The tom with the spot on his tail is Brackenkit, and the other tom is Owlkit."

"Thornkit, Brackenkit, and Owlkit," Thunder purred. I sighed. I didn't want to give my kits away, but I knew I had to. The storm I was planning to cook up was too dangerous to have my kits with me. It was better this way.

"I love you, kits," I murmured, touching my nose to each one in a goodbye. Then I looked up at Thunder. "I love you, Thunder. I'm sorry it had to be this way."

Then I turned away and padded back into the forest, toward ShadowClan, my home.


	22. Chapter 22

**We're nearing the end, my friends. This is the last chapter of RTT. After there will be, like before, a oneshot and bonus info, and then I will move onto the third Chaos Chronicle 'book', Meddling with Destiny. Thanks for sticking with me!**

* * *

**CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO**

* * *

_Many, many years later..._

I slashed my claws against the tom's cheek, howling in satisfaction. I had lost all of my lives but one a long time ago, and I saw everyone as my enemy due to Other Shadow's life possessing me entirely. I was increasingly erratic, distrustful, and strange; much like Bluestar in her last moons, really. I had started this war last moon, and, although compared to many of my younger warriors, I was ancient, I was still a formidable fighter.

Suddenly, a large weight landed on my back, and I felt my spine snap like a twig.

I screeched and yowled with pain, unable to comprehend what had just happened. The weight leapt off me, and then I heard gasp and a voice I didn't recognize: "I'm sorry, Shadow. I'll end it quickly."

A sharp pain flared at my throat; then everything went dark.

* * *

I woke on the battlefield a while later. I stood up and stretched my limbs, feeling stronger and fitter than I had in years. I looked down at my scarred paws in surprise: they were whole and unblemished. What had happened?

I looked up. Three other cats were on the battlefield as well, two WindClan cats and one of my ShadowClan warriors, a young she-cat called Newtfoot. I stood, confused as to why we were the only ones here. Then, off in the distance, four warriors with sparkling starlight in their fur bounded across the moor toward us. I rolled my eyes as I realized that I was, of course, dead.

Wait... dead? How?

Memory flashes: A dark shape, an immense pain in my back, a whispered apology, a sharp pain in my throat.

...Right. Dead.

The four glittering cats reached us. Two headed for the WindClan cats; one, a young tom—Newtfoot's father, dead since she was an apprentice—bounded toward my ShadowClan warrior. The last walked toward me with a smile.

"_Thorn_!" I cried, running at my long-dead friend. We touched muzzles, then I buried my face in her shoulder fur. After a moment, we broke apart. I grinned broadly; Thorn did likewise.

"Oh, Thorn, I missed you so much," I mewed.

She purred. "I have too. I wish I could have stayed, but StarClan needed me. It was my time to go."

I nodded, suddenly grave. "As it is my time now." I sighed as I realized that I was the first leader to die. My deputy, a young she-cat named Birdtail, would do well repairing the Clan that I had first built then almost torn to pieces. My mind, so suspicious and broken in my last days, was whole now, thank StarClan—but Other Shadow's "revenge" had taken its toll on myself, my Clan, and the rest of the forest.

"Come, Shadow," Thorn said to me, turning toward Highstones. I smiled and followed her.

* * *

Many of my friends had died while I was leader. While I was old enough to be an elder, the other leaders still lived, as they were more peaceful and cautious than myself. I reunited with many friends during my sojourn in StarClan: cats I had known in WindClan, my ShadowClan friends, and even—surprisingly—my friend Tam from when I had my kits.

I gave Birdtail her ninth life and watched as she pulled together ShadowClan and restored peace to the Clans. I was proud of her work and efforts; her actions early in her leadership promised other, better things to come. I could not have chosen a better deputy.

After that, it was only a matter of time before my fellow leaders began to join me in StarClan. River was the first of my companions to fall: he took ill with greencough the next leaf-bare, and the disease took his two remaining lives. I was not sent to guide him to StarClan; instead, his mate Treeheart went.

However, when Thunder died at the claws of a badger, I was glad to fetch his spirit.

I slipped through the undergrowth, arriving at the battlefield to the sight of his mourning Clanmates carrying his body away. His spirit still slept, lying the spot where he had been killed. I saw with a pang of regret that our three kits, strong Thornfang, loyal Brackentail, and clever Owleyes, were among the cats who carried their leader's body. They had been told that their mother was a rogue who had died shortly after giving them to their father. It kept them from asking questions, but it hurt me, even though I know it was for the best.

As soon as my kits and their friends left with Thunder's body, I crept out of the bushes and gently prodded my mate. "Thunder, Ryan, Lionblaze—wake up!"

Thunder's eyes flew open and he sprang up, fur bristling and claws out. Then he relaxed as he realized who I was.

"Shadow! What happened? Where am I?" he demanded.

"Thunder," I said gently, "you're dead. A badger killed you."

His eyes widened. "Dead? But—how are we going to get back to the human world?"

I waved the question aside. "Oh, StarClan will make arrangements, they did last time."

"All right," Thunder said. "Now what?"

"_Now_ we go to Highstones," I said firmly. "Come with me."

We raced through the forest and the moors, rejoicing in each other's presence. I felt calm, happy, and whole for the first time in a very long time. My mate Lionblaze, or my boyfriend Ryan, was with me again, and now nothing could separate us.

* * *

At last Sky and Wind joined us. When all five of us enjoyed StarClan's hospitality, we worried as no StarClan cat gathered us together to send us back to our time and human bodies.

When two moons since Wind's death had past, I approached Thorn about this problem.

"Thorn, you seem to carry respect among the StarClan cats," I began pleasantly.

"Yes, I suppose so," she replied, puzzled.

"All right. I have a question."

"Ask away."

"When are we going home?" I asked bluntly.

Thorn frowned. "What do you mean?"

I frowned in return. "You mean you don't know?" I exclaimed.

"I don't know what?"

I shook my head. "Great," I growled as I turned away. "We'll be stuck in this time and body forever!"

I returned to my companions to break the bad news, but as soon as we were all together, two sparkling old toms shimmered into existence in front of us. One was white-furred, the other golden-colored. I recognized them from my days in StarClan before: Whitestorm and Lionheart.

Their images continued to shimmer and ripple, as if they were not entirely there. I frowned.

"Why are you rippling?" Wind said, asking the question I had been thinking.

Whitestorm answered her. "It is _very_ hard to send the semblance of a cat back in time, especially if it is not going to stay there."

"We have come to return you to your proper places," Lionheart continued. "Annie, Gingerstar, Shadow, whatever you want to call yourself, where do you wish to return to?"

"Home, if you please," I replied, my voice heavy with relief. "Well, Windover Farm. That's where my family is."

"We cannot have you moved from place to place, only from time to time. You will wake in your body in the cave where the Moonstone lies," Whitestorm mewed. Then he turned to my companions. "Do any of you wish to go with her, or would you rather continue your adventures? We cannot promise your return to home later if you do."

Everyone shook their heads emphatically—except for Sky.

"Wind-Josie and I would like to go home as well," River-Macks said firmly.

"And I am done with the _Warriors _world," Thunder-Lionblaze-Ryan said. "I said my goodbyes a while ago. "

"Will we still be required to visit StarClan in our sleep?" Wind mewed.

"Yes," Lionheart admitted.

"Will I be able to visit my children?" Thunder asked.

Whitestorm nodded. "If they have not Faded. So many of these cats in this time period have."

"Thorn?" I asked with my heart in my throat.

Lionheart smiled. "No, she was remembered by two very important cats who go by the names of Shadow and Wind. I believe she still lives in StarClan, though many cats she knew have Faded."

"My kits?" I asked, worried once more.

"Owlstar was one of ThunderClan's most important leaders," Whitestorm said, smiling. "And his siblings were remembered by their parents."

"Will we be asked to return through time periods?" clever River asked.

"No," Lionheart said. "You will mysteriously disappear for awhile, only to be called in for very important things that you will experience as you travel through times on your way home."

We all nodded. That was sensible.

Sky cleared his throat. He looked uncomfortable. "I really would like to go _back_ in time, to Half Moon. I was promised that when I was given my wish for saving the Clans."

Lionheart and Whitestorm exchanged a long, uneasy glance. "It can be done," Whitestorm said at last.

Thunder gave his brother a long, sad look. "Jayfeather, it was bad enough when we lost Hollyleaf, both when we thought she was dead, and when she went over to the Dark Forest and Gingerstar killed her."

I shifted uncomfortably. I hadn't thought of killing Hollyleaf as murdering my sister-in-law before, only as doing something that had to be done.

"I'll miss you, Lionblaze," Sky—who in an instant had suddenly changed furs to look like himself as Jayfeather or Jay's Wing—said quietly, his voice full of emotion. The two brothers gave each other a cat hug, pressing their muzzles into each other's fur; then Jay's Wing squared his shoulders. "I'm ready," he announced.

"Um, wait," I interrupted. "What about your adoptive mom? Your friends? My family? They all know you and will ask funny questions when we don't come back with you."

"Fox-dung," Lionheart snarled. "I forgot about that."

Suddenly, Bluestar shimmered into existence between the two toms. "This is _taking too long_," she announced. "We can't keep the connection for much longer! Send them home and be done with it!"

Muttering, Whitestorm filled her in on the situation.

She rolled her eyes. "Toms!" she mewed in exasperation. "Change their memories! Can't you see what's right in front of your face?"

Josie and I met each other's eyes, smiling.

"I would like to keep my memory of my brother," Thunder pointed out. "And I'm sure my companions feel the same way."

We nodded. I didn't want to lose _any_ of my memory, and I hoped I had not lost some of it already—like, maybe there was another human-cat on this misadventure of the formation of the Clans, and everyone's memory of them had been wiped. I crossed my claws that my memory was whole and intact.

"We will be very careful in our memory wiping," Bluestar said sarcastically. I turned to hide a smile. Then she became serious. "You four will keep your memories. Everyone _fully_ human who knew him will forget that Jayfeather even existed."

We all nodded in agreement. After a few more goodbyes, Jayfeather vanished in a blaze of light.

Lionheart and Whitestorm exchanged a rueful glance, looked at Bluestar, and then shimmered out of the clearing.

Bluestar snorted. Then she turned to us, something like compassion in her eyes. "I'm sorry that they had to involve you in this mess. I think that the Other Leaders would have done fine, but..." She trailed off.

I rolled my eyes. "I may not appreciate what you did to me," I said ruefully, "but I think that you're better off with me as Shadow. Other Shadow was a vicious, conniving, terrible beast, at least until she found out it wasn't _my_ fault she lost her destiny. If she had been leader, I think things would have been a lot worse."

The other cats shot me confused looks. I glared at them back. The Other Wind, Thunder, and River didn't invade _their_ minds.

"I'm ready to go back if you guys are," I said tiredly.

Everyone mewed agreement. Bluestar closed her eyes in concentration. I saw the faint beginnings of the sparkling orange mist that preceded time- and shape-changing. Then she opened her eyes as the mist dissipated, looking confused. "Have you four heard the prophecy?"

"Prophecy?" River asked.

"I thought so," the blue-gray she-cat said, nodding. "Here it is: _For if the twice-felines fail, the Clans will be lost before they are made._" Noting our confusion, Bluestar explained, "It has been puzzled over since the dawn of the Clans, when an eavesdropping she-cat overheard a very strange conversation that she refused to talk about..." Her eyes widened.

Wind sighed. "Thorn, come out of there."

A bashful-looking Thorn crept out of the bushes, eyes wide. "Is it true?" she inquired, awed.

"Very true," I admitted.

"And I will see everything that you have done from the stars in the future," she murmured. "Incredible."

"Goodbye, Thorn," I said. I turned to Bluestar. "Please, I am ready to go. The prophecy was straightforward enough. We didn't fail. The Clans are safe. Now can I _please_ go home?"

Bluestar nodded. She concentrated.

Then I heard a faint poof, and the blessed sparkling orange mist clouded my vision.

* * *

I visited a few cats many times as I began to travel through time, my spirit growing older and older as time blurred by. Most of these meetings faded quickly into memories, but I do remember that the last one was the talk that the first leaders had with Rock and Midnight that served as the prologue of _Long Shadows_.

* * *

Having your molecules pulled apart and rearranged into a different body isn't actually all that painful.

I felt a tingling sensation all over my body, and my vision blurred. When my eyesight cleared, I was standing in exactly the same place I had been sitting—except I was a Twoleg.

I shook my head and looked at my paws—no, my hands. I then turned to Thunder—no, I could call him Ryan now—and smiled. We were back where we belonged. His answering smile was warm and happy.

We helped each other stand up as Macks and Josie did the same. I continued holding Ryan's hand after we were standing. I touched his fingernails and frowned.

"Ryan," I began.

"What?"

"Your fingernails!"

He looked at his hand and gasped. Instead of nails, he had claws! I looked at my hands and noticed that they were the same way. So were Josie and Macks's.

I concentrated and flexed the same muscles I used to retract my claws while I was a cat now. The claws neatly slid inside my fingers. I sighed in relief as I realized that my nails now looked the same as they always did—only they looked as if I had sharpened or filed them. My parents, used to my catty ways, would accept that as an answer.

The others retracted their claws as well and grinned at me. Luckily, our teeth remained normal for a human.

"Well, that was an adventure," Macks said sarcastically.

We paused, taking it in that we were back to human. Then, amused by Macks's remark and very high-strung from all that had happened, we laughed long and hard as we walked out of the cave and into the sun.

* * *

**THE END**


	23. Chapter 23: Owleyes' Truth

**Thank you for sticking with me! This is the oneshot that is going with RTT. It's about Owleyes, the second ThunderClan leader and Shadow and Thunder's son. I read somewhere that someone, before DOTC was released, paired Shadow and Thunder and said that they would like it if they had Owleyes as their son. I loved the idea and immediately adopted it into my headcanon, and put it in my canon here. :3**

**Keep in mind that the 'star' suffix in the leader's names did not come into practice for quite awhile, so Owleyes is known as Owleyes after his leader ceremony. I don't think that they started calling him Owlstar until quite a while after he was dead.**

**Also, would you Warriors fans please check out my other Warriors fanfiction, Fever? It really needs some love. So do most of my oneshots, too. But Fever, especially. Thanks!**

* * *

**CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE**

**BONUS ONESHOT: OWLEYES' TRUTH**

_Who really WAS Owleyes' mother?_

* * *

As the four cats—his sister Thornfang, his brother Brackentail, his mate Honeyheart, and himself—padded through the forest carrying the dead body of his father, the great leader Thunder, between them, Owleyes cast a glance behind him. For a moment, he thought he saw a dark shape that looked suspiciously like the deranged Shadow, dead many moons ago, prodding what looked like his father gently, as if trying to wake him. Then he blinked, and the vision was gone. Owleyes dismissed this as nonsense, the workings of a tired brain. After all, Shadow and Thunder—while the rumors said they had been friends before they formed the Clans—were rivals, and Owleyes and his family carried Thunder now to the camp. He was not lying in the clearing where the badger had killed him.

They walked somberly through the forest, not saying a word. Once, Honeyheart, sensing his need for comfort in this difficult moment, brushed her muzzle against his from her spot next to him. He gave her a grateful look, but said nothing.

When they trodded into the ThunderClan camp, they were met with mews of grief. Owleyes agreed with them; this was certainly a time for mourning. However, he could not bring himself to say anything.

The vigil that night was sharp with pain. Thunder had been a great leader, and he was well loved by his cats. No one knew exactly who was going to be the next leader, for each Clan had picked their new leader in a different fashion. ShadowClan had chosen the strong and capable Birdtail as their leader, and some viewed it only as a coincidence that she had been Shadow's deputy. However, RiverClan had chosen River's daughter, Carpflash as their second leader. In Wind's failing health, her mate Gorsefur was gradually taking over her Clan and promised to be a good leader in the future.

In Thunder's death, Owleyes knew exactly who should be the new leader: not his deputy, Twigfur, who was smart but not leader material, but Owleyes himself. Although he certainly grieved for his dead father, he felt that he had to take control, for the good of the Clan.

In the morning, after Thunder's body had been buried by his immediate family and the elders, Owleyes promptly leapt upon the Highrock and summoned the Clan for a meeting.

"Cats of ThunderClan, join me beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!"

Startled, the cats gathered around. They were all thinking the same thing, Owleyes could tell. _Who will be leader now? Twigfur or Owleyes?_

As he listened to the buzz of the gathering crowd, Owleyes heard that he had many supporters. Twigfur's loyals hissed that he overstepped himself in thinking that he could summon the Clan, but many neutrals were impressed by his audacity and forwardness.

"Cats of my Clan," Owleyes began, "I have called you here for a good reason. As you all know, my dear father, Thunder, was killed by a badger yesterday."

Murmurs of sadness spread through the assembled cats.

"I, too, grieve for his death. But we have an immediate problem on our hands: the choosing of the next leader." He shuffled his paws and drew himself up to his full height. "I nominate myself for this task. I promise you I will lead you wisely and well, taking counsel from my elders and the cats around me."

About half the crowd began cheering his name. Owleyes smiled.

Then an older brown-furred tom stood up, a disgusted look in his eyes. "Cats of ThunderClan!" he yowled, louder than Owleyes. As if that made a difference. "You all know me well. I am Twigfur, Thunder's deputy! Do you really think that StarClan will bless us if we put this power-grabber in the leader's den? Thunder chose _me_ to lead you when he was gone!"

A percentage, considerably less than his own, Owleyes noted, of the cats cheered Twigfur as their candidate for leader. There were still many cats who were neutral in this situation, joining in with either neither or both of the groups.

"Twigfur, my friend," Owleyes began, "obviously we have a problem. We both desire to be leader. I feel that someone else must make the decision for us, as I am sure that neither of us will back down."

"If you suggest that the Clan decide, that is hardly fair," Twigfur snapped. "You have won too many over with your absurd lies."

Owleyes sighed. Twigfur was _such_ a pain in the tail sometimes.

"Of course not, Twigfur," he said with a smile. "I suggest that StarClan make the decision."

All eyes flew to the ancient medicine cat, Cloudspots, and his young apprentice Quailfeather. They both looked surprised. Then they bent close together and muttered to each other for a few moments.

Then Quailfeather lifted her head and spoke for both of them: "We will ask StarClan in our dreams tonight which of you should be the leader. They will decide."

Owleyes smiled at his opponent. Mewing patronizingly, he said, "Well, Twigfur? Will you accept StarClan's judgement?"

For a moment, fear flashed in the older tom's eyes. Then it was gone, and Twigfur replied, "Of course."

* * *

The next morning, the Clan gathered beneath the Highrock without being called together, something that did not happen often. Eagerly, they watched as the two candidates took their places at the foot of the great pinnacle. After what seemed like forever to an anxious Owleyes, Quailfeather, with Cloudspots trailing behind her, left the medicine cat's den and marched up to the Highrock.

The young she-cat leapt up to the top of the rock. "Cats of ThunderClan," she mewed, "last night, Thunder himself came to me in a dream."

A buzz of surprise and anticipation swept through the assembled cats. Quailfeather had always had a knack for drama, and she dragged out this story of hers, leaving Owleyes more and more nervous as the time passed. She told them of how she and Thunder exchanged pleasantries, how they chatted for a little while to pass the time, and then, _finally_, it seemed—

"I asked our great leader which of the cats in the Clan was to be the leader," Quailfeather proclaimed. "Was it to be his faithful deputy, Twigfur, or his loyal son, Owleyes?"

The crowd, eyes wide with anticipation, made no sound as the medicine cat apprentice paused. Owleyes wanted to scream at her to get to the point, to just _tell_ them already. He could tell the shifting Twigfur next to him felt the same impatience.

"At last, Thunder answered the question we are all dying to know the answer to," the tabby continued.

_Yes, now _you_ tell _us_!_ Owleyes mentally screamed at her.

"Our revered leader's answer was this—"

And once again, the she-cat paused for effect, driving not only Owleyes and Twigfur, but the rest of the Clan as well, crazy with anticipation.

"—Owleyes is to be the next leader of ThunderClan!"

At first, a silence as the cats took this in. Then everycat started talking at once.

Owleyes felt triumph roaring inside him. He had won! His father had chosen him!

He leapt up beside Quailfeather on the Highrock. "Cats of my Clan," he began.

He did not get much farther.

Twigfur leapt up beside him, shoving the medicine cat apprentice onto the ground. His eyes burned with rage. Owleyes saw now, as the rest of the Clan did, that he would most definitely _not_ have made a good leader.

"Liar!" he roared down at the cowering Quailfeather.

At once, the Clan rose in outrage, even Twigfur's former supporters. Accusing a medicine cat of lying? What kind of cat was he?

Too late, Twigfur realized what he had said and got his temper under control.

"I—I didn't mean that," he stammered.

But it was far too late for Twigfur. As Quailfeather coldly escorted him back down to the ground, Owleyes watched him disapprovingly. "Twigfur, you overstep. As my first act as leader, I order you to work as an assistant our medicine cats for five days and to apologize to Quailfeather for knocking her down, though, frankly, she almost deserved it for dragging her story out like that—"

Here he paused to let chuckles roll through the crowd. He was smiling, so they knew he was only joking. Even Quailfeather cast him an amused glance. He was winning them over, something Twigfur could never have done.

"Thank you. Tomorrow, Quailfeather and I, since Cloudspots is too old to make the journey, will travel to Highstones so I may receive my nine lives." Owleyes smiled, his gaze sweeping across the crowd. "I hope that my father made the right decision, and that I will not lead you into doom."

* * *

The journey to Mothermouth was uneventful. Owleyes and Quailfeather didn't talk much. To Quailfeather, Owleyes was just another cat—albeit a powerful one, but what is power to a medicine cat? And Owleyes found Quailfeather sort of irritating; her flair for drama did not help with that. Thus there was little to talk about.

They reached Highstones at sunset. Quailfeather led Owleyes through the caverns. The darkness did not unnerve Owleyes; he had studied long and hard from the bird who lived in Owl Tree so that he, too could hunt in the dark. He seemed for some reason to take to it like a ShadowClan cat, as his sister Thornfang joked.

At last they reached the Moonstone.

It was so _bright_, Owleyes thought, awed, even without the moon shining on it. He felt that every cat should experience this, and made a mental note to make it a rule that every ThunderClan apprentice must travel to the Moonstone before they are made a warrior. It would be selfish to keep this wondrous thing to himself and the medicine cats.

And then moonhigh came.

The light of the stars and the moon shone down on the blazing stone, lighting it with a brilliant fire that made Owleyes's night eyes burn.

"It is time," Quailfeather said, somber for once in her life.

Owleyes nodded, then pressed his nose to the rock.

* * *

The ceremony was painful, certainly, but not as painful as what came after it.

Owleyes rose from his crouching position, his new lives coursing through him. StarClan gathered around him, and in one voice they cheered him: "Owleyes! Owleyes! Owleyes! Owleyes!"

As they cheered his name, they began to fade, one by one, back into the night sky. He smiled, ready to return to his Clan—until he realized that he was not alone.

A lithe silver she-cat was sitting in front of him. Her eyes were a glittering blue, and while she was in StarClan's territory, her fur did not sparkle with the light of the stars. Instead, a darkness seemed for a moment to gather around her, but when Owleyes blinked, it was gone.

"May I help you?" he asked cautiously.

The silver cat purred, a comforting sound that set him at ease. "No, I don't think so, Owleyes."

He started. "How do you know my name?" he demanded.

She rolled her eyes. "All of StarClan was chanting it just a minute ago," she pointed out. "Besides... I've been watching you for quite some time."

He began to feel a little nervous again, and almost took a wary step backward. The silver cat smiled and said, "Now, there's no need for that. I won't hurt you, Owleyes."

"What is your name?" he asked.

She ignored the question. "Now, my friend, I know that there is something that you have always yearned to know, ever since you were a kit." She smiled, and Owleyes frowned, wondering what she was talking about.

"Your mother," the silver cat said, voice full of sympathy. Owleyes felt those words wash over him, and instead of being wary, he relaxed. The silver cat had a lovely voice, he admitted to himself, and what would it hurt if she continued to talk? Besides, if she knew about his mother...

And then he sat up with a start. His _mother_? This cat knew his _mother_, or at least knew who she was? Suddenly, the peculiar lethargy that was upon him was shaken off, replaced by a burning curiosity. The silver cat was right: he _had_ wanted to know who his mother was ever since he was a kit. But his father, infuriatingly, had refused to tell him and his siblings even her name.

"You knew my mother?" he asked eagerly.

"Knew? Your mother and I were very... close," the silver cat purred. "We knew each other for a very long time, longer than you could imagine."

"My father, Thunder, would only tell us that she was a rogue who died shortly after she gave us to him." Owleyes sighed. "He wouldn't even tell us her name."

"No wonder," the silver cat mewed, shaking her head. She took a few steps forward and tilted her head, as if preparing to tell a secret, which he supposed she was.

"Why not? Who was she?"

The silver cat did not answer right away. Owleyes realized, that, much like Quailfeather, she was playing her story for all its worth, dragging it out to increase his sense of suspense. It was _very_ irritating.

"Your mother was quite an individual," the silver cat said. "She and your father knew each other for quite a while before the Clans were formed. She was not a rogue, but... ah... joined another Clan."

Owleyes opened his eyes wide. At this point in time, inter-Clan relationships were not banned, but were most definitely frowned upon. "I'm half-Clan?" he mewed, confused.

The silver cat paused. "Sort of," she mewed, before rushing on without explaining what "sort of" meant. "She and your father were quite different from each other, but she knew she couldn't raise you in her Clan, so she forced you upon your father."

Owleyes had dreamed in his heart that his mother was taking him and his siblings to join ThunderClan when she was giving them to her father, but she died before she could join as well. He had _not_ thought—or even considered—that his mother was from another Clan and didn't care about her kits. It was quite a different story, and it stung.

"My mother didn't love us?" he asked, his heart heavy.

"I'm afraid not," the silver cat sighed, but there was something malicious in her sigh.

Owleyes sighed in return, disappointed. "Can you at least tell me her name?" he asked quietly.

The silver cat's eyes crinkled in a suppressed mirth. "Of course. Her name..." Here she paused, dragging out the theatricality in the moment. "Her name was Shadow."

For a moment, a 'thank you' was at the tip of Owleyes' tongue. Then he processed what she had said, and the words died on his lips.

_Shadow_ was his mother?

Shadow the murderer? Shadow the cruel? Shadow, the one who started a bloody war between all five Clans and died in the process, insane and senile?

_That _Shadow?

He looked with suspicion upon the innocently smiling silver cat in front of him. "Are you lying to me?" he asked bluntly.

"Me?" the silver cat mewed, all innocence.

"Who _are_ you? Some ShadowClan cat?" Owleyes demanded.

The silver cat opened her mouth to reply, then closed it, eyes widening at something behind him. He turned, and was shocked to see... Shadow. His mother.

"Silver? What are you doing?" Shadow demanded.

The she-cat—whose name was apparently Silver—unsheathed her claws and bared her teeth. "Shadow," she hissed between clenched teeth. "Hello."

The black cat shook her head. "I'm not Shadow," she sighed regretfully. "I'm the... Other Shadow," she mewed with a wry smile.

Owleyes was very confused. "You're not Shadow?" he asked. "How? You look exactly like her!"

"I'm the Other Shadow," the cat who wasn't Shadow repeated. "I'm what Shadow _could_ have been, if..." She trailed off, frowning at Owleyes. "But you'll find about that eventually. I'm not the one who should tell you."

"Another Shadow to keep secrets from me," he spat, irritated.

"It was necessary," the Other Shadow said gently. Then she turned to Silver, eyes flinty. "And _you_ should not be here, Silver. You should be in the Dark Forest, where you belong."

"The Dark Forest?" Owleyes echoed, confused.

"The Place of No Stars. Where evil cats go when they die," the Other Shadow explained, still looking at Silver with suspicion. "I barely avoided going there myself. I wasn't very good to your mother, and she _was_ one of the founding leaders, after all."

Owleyes decided that he was _thoroughly_ confused as to what was going on. Silver looked very nervous, but then, the Other Shadow was almost twice her size and angry with her. He frowned. He didn't understand the whole "Other Shadow" thing was about, or the "Dark Forest", either.

Suddenly, something clicked inside his brain. _Silver_. The leader of ShadowClan before it was ShadowClan. The tyrant, the one who kept slaves. The one who was killed by...

"Shadow," he whispered.

The Other Shadow's ear twitched, but she said nothing. Silver had crouched down, and suddenly, with no warning, she pounced on the larger she-cat.

The Other Shadow returned the favor by biting into her opponent's neck. The fight continued, fierce and bloody, with Owleyes watching in horror, eyes wide.

It seemed as if the Other Shadow was winning, Silver tiring at last. Then, out of nowhere, Silver lunged toward the Other Shadow's neck. Biting, she severed the other cat's windpipe, but she was bleeding heavily.

As the Other Shadow lay dying on the ground, Silver looked up, the battle light in her eyes fading. She stretched, hissed at Owleyes, then growled, "I will leave now. There are other things, important things, that have to be done. Goodbye, Owleyes—but this is not the last your family has seen of me." Then, limping, she stalked away into the shadows.

Owleyes rushed over to the Other Shadow, eyes wide. She was bleeding from her pelt and throat, eyelids flickering.

Suddenly, they opened wide. Resting on Owleyes, she smiled. A rusty, gurgling purr sounded from her ravaged throat. "Ah, well," she rasped. "I suppose the Clans were better off without me." She sighed, and closed her eyes. Owleyes thought that she was dead for a moment, before she opened her eyelids a crack once more and whispered with her dying breath, "Your mother did love you, you know."

And then her head lolled back and, with a sigh, died. Her body shimmered, then vanished.

Owleyes was still confused, but it was at that moment that he felt his spirit leaving the clearing, returning to the mortal world.

* * *

Quailfeather was looking at him with concern as he woke, his body stiff. "Are you all right?" she asked. "You were asleep for quite awhile. How did the ceremony go?"

Owleyes paused, considering what to tell her. "Fine," he replied, grossly understating what had actually happened.

_What _a story he had to tell his siblings!


End file.
